


You've Got a Friend In Me

by JupiterJoon



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Guys I drank a lot in college Im sorry, Humor, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Minor Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Multi, POV Bisexual Character, POV Original Character, Pre-Relationship, Reader-Insert, References to incorrect BTS screencaps also, Sex, Slow Burn, TV Tropes, This was more slow burn and angst than I intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2019-10-16 07:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 51,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17545358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JupiterJoon/pseuds/JupiterJoon
Summary: You and the boys try to survive the later years of college and love. Because what's a good story without love. The best kind of daytime television love.Excerpt:Everyone erupts in cheers, scooting, rolling, and crawling over to make one giant dogpile hug. Arms stretched over shoulders, heads, grabbing on into a tight bear hug. “Jungkook got a date! Another date!” You all cheer.“Let’s hope sober Jungkook can keep it up,” Hope mumbles, and the hug shifts as several of you attempt to jab at him.“We’re going to the movies!” You call excitedly.“Nah, I’m going to the movies,” Jungkook corrects.You all look around at each other and start to snicker. “No,” you say again, “ we’re going to the movies.”You hear a groan from inside the hug. “Fine, but no Bluetooth mission impossible shit this time,” Jungkook concedes.





	1. And You Say He's Just a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is chapter 1 of my first fic ^_^ It's mostly a convoluted mess of ideas I've had all thrown together. I really wanted to write a bisexual Y/N because I know we are out there... !  
> The tags on this for relationships will develop as the story does ;) You may be surprised...  
> Feel free to leave me feedback :) Enjoy all the chapters named after song titles.

You had never planned to be wrapped up in Jungkook’s arms, straddling him on your living room sofa. You especially didn’t expect all your friends to be present, hooting and hollering. You’d actually planned for someone else to be in this very position. You’d wanted to be the one hooting and hollering. Yet, you could definitely feel your bare legs sinking into the old leather, feeling scratchy against the rips in Jungkook’s jeans. And it was definitely his arm, palm splayed out on your back, supporting you there.

And yet, staring down into his big, Bambi eyes, you begin to realize how you got here, and that it was absolutely inevitable that your arms would be wrapping around his neck, fingers threading through his hair.

  
“Hey,” he stutters out, eyes flickering between yours.

  
“Hey,” you whisper back.

  
_3 Months Earlier_

“Is it true?” a slurred, snot-filled voice bellows through your voice piece. You hadn’t checked the caller ID, but you were already sure who was calling.Typing away the same five comments to the tragic reading responses for one of the two freshman-writing classes you’ve been stuck with. This late in the evening, most of your “colleagues” have vacated the premises. But that’s why you are here. At this time of day, the cramped office feels like it’s all yours, the aura of your little desk expanding with the music you can now play at an audible volume, the beat subtly influencing the amount of sass that comes out each time you write “but how?” to another student commenting “the story was good”.

“Is what true, Jungkook?” You ask while tapping out yet another “ _yes, but how?_ ” on the reading response. Usually, you stay until the work is done. But tonight, you are already expecting to be cut short. And your assumptions literally rang true around 8pm when your phone started demanding to be answered.

“Is JiEun really with Inna?” this statement was even harder to make out than the first. The awkward muffling must be a sleeve wiping at his nose. “Why is the world so cruel? I didn’t even get my chance!”

Sighing, you switch the phone to speaker as you close your current gradebook and pack up things on your desk. “First of all, she’s gay. Second of all, you have had plenty of chances. A plethora, if you will.”

“Kick me while I’m down, why don’t you?” -sniff- “I could’ve been the one! I could have convinced her?” You hold back your comment on toxic masculinity and wait for him to continue. “I mean, I didn’t say that. I’m trash. I’ve failed. Failed for life. Good at everything but the most important thing.” You could almost hear him rolling around on the bed.

“Okay, what flavor am I picking up this time?” You had been waiting on this call all day. Ji Eun told you her new relationship was going to be made public today, so you’d saved your calories for the inevitable banana split dip-and-dots. Locking the door to the office, you begin your trek to the other side of off-campus housing.

The headphone cord twirls in your fingers as you walk out of the building you’d first met Jungkook in. Freshman English, which you, he, and Ji Eun all had at the disgusting time of 8 am. Of course, Jungkook took it as a student, and you and Ji Eun had been fortunate enough to be shafted the 8am slot for an honors TAship. Now, you TA two similar classes in the afternoon, the power of seniority getting you a much better deal. But back then, you and Jungkook shared the same motivation for going to class-- Ji Eun.

You’d had one or two classes with her, were familiar with her ability to sway men and women, just like Jungkook and you. As TAs, you spent much more time together, which you initial welcomed eagerly with free coffees and personal study rooms. She thought you were funny and you thought she was… adorable. How her response to anything is a smile, only the scrunching, creasing, or raising of her eyebrows letting you know which smile you are getting. The little laugh she has when someone compliments her for the millionth time, rehearsed but sweet.  Ji Eun is one of those girls who would be mistaken as a teenager well into her 30s.

Just like Jungkook and his baby face, which had remained despite the steroid-level muscle increase his body had endured during sophomore year. Jungkook managed to stand out as the only student who took advantage of your joint office hours (your suggestion in the initial failed attempts of trying to be around her as much as possible). He would come and muster up the courage to speak to you, but never Ji Eun. Thus, you and Jungkook grew closer and Ji Eun would smile sweetly as she’d listen to your conversations, eventually realizing Jungkook didn’t hate her-- he was infatuated by her.

It was hard to hide, the way he stuttered any time she offered her own comments on the homework or an assignment-- Jungkook’s only excuses to appear outside of class. Taking pity on him, you both had asked him to join you for lunch after an unnecessarily long explanation for the homework Jungkook demanded, finally conceding to his demands to be around Ji Eun. Tragically for Jungkook, she had been called away shortly after ordering your meals. Even more tragically, you’d taken advantage of the chance to corner Jungkook.

_“Give up, boy,” You had said through a mouthful of Subway sandwich. You will never forget the competitive glint that somehow shined through his utter embarrassment. He seemed more taken aback by your sudden lack of formality, something that stood in stark contrast to your teacher assistant persona._

_“Excuse me?” Jungkook had responded quietly._

_“I’mma let you in on a little secret,” you leaned in, waving him closer. Jungkook seemed to hesitate but leaned in regardless. “If Ji Eun isn’t gonna date me, she’s sure as hell not gonna date you, kid.”_

The wheels in Jungkook’s mind had turned incredibly slowly. That was the day you and Jungkook became Eskimo-crush-buddies, and the beginning of Jungkook’s short-lived mission of “I can change her!” Thankfully, Namjoon had put a stop to that, who you met a couple of months later, along with your new roommates. Since then, Jungkook had managed to wiggle his way into you and Ji Eun’s life. Especially when Ji Eun came to your new-apartment-situation-warming party and managed to find more ways to hang out with you all whenever Hobi’s sister would bring her best friend Inna around.

Walking across campus these days starts to pull on your heartstrings. When you’re not on autopilot, you find yourself reminiscing about what the campus looked like six years ago, when you weren’t even going to the school but dating someone there. The school had expanded just as quickly as your impression on life, the years of your late teens and early 20s filled with and morphed by the landscape of experience and memories. A whole half of the campus was still a vacant shopping strip off the highway, reserved specifically for smoking weed rather than smoking chemistry projects.

Now, you head towards the student health center creeping out between the wiser buildings of the campus, decrepit but filled with the successes and failures of those before you. A campus garden is across the street from you, with various gravel paths leading down a slope that takes you around the world in the form of senior projects from the agricultural and architectural departments. You remember when you and Ji Eun had first sat in the Japanese garden, and she’d pointed out all the plants by name. Jungkook had sat in awe, his roommates nearby, too scared to sit close to you while the smell of marijuana tempted the security guards near the dorms.

Stopping in the small Grab-N-Go shop on the edge of campus, you pick up at least three servings of the banana split dip-n-dots, prepared for the evening of woe. Up a hill outside the store is the tiny neighborhood that is filled with houses well beyond their prices, due to the continuous battles of college students to find their own home right off campus. Somehow Namjoon and Hobi had managed to secure a house from previous friends and teammates. But you walk right on passed in order to pick up the desperately needed ice cream at the 7-eleven around the corner before turning out back down the hill to the little home, if you could call it such a thing.

“Hey, New Girl,” Namjoon says when he opens the door. New Girl- his joke (which only he finds funny) for you and your roommate situation. Being friends with Jungkook had added you to their mixmashed friend group, and two of his friends happened to need a roommate. Everyone had briefly joked that you were living the sitcom _New Girl._ Namjoon hadn’t let go of the nickname. He’s already dressed in his usual baggy sweats and a sweater that extends long beyond his hands, a sweater-paw gripping the doorknob. You grimace and walk passed him.

“Jungkook!” you shout, “Ice cream delivery.”

“Yah! You’d shout in someone else’s home?” Hobi grunts from the couch. He’s playing another one of those fighter games, legs strewn across the couch casually, yet shoulders hunched and fingers jammed with stress.

“Spoons,” you hear an elevated whine call out before you can give a retort. Turning to the open kitchen, Namjoon already holds out two spoons.  
With a quick nod, you head to Jungkook’s room to find him sitting on the floor in front of his bed, staring at his phone. His head is propped between both knees, fully exposed through the many rips in his jeans.

“It’s all over!” he whines, tilting his blotchy face towards you, eyes swollen and mouth parted to breathe through his snotty sadness. Holding the phone up towards you, you trade him the ice cream. “Ji Eun is in a relationship with Yoo In Na” the Facebook notification reads.

“I’m still impressed you made it far enough to become Facebook friends.” Jungkook makes to jab at your shin. “Well, Kook, she is a lesbian. There was no beginning for anything to be over,” you shrug to the floor, plopping next to him and throwing your bag on the bed.

Jungkook eats the ice cream, beginning his usual rant of how beautiful JiEun is, how he should be happy because she deserves everything. Nodding and sighing when needed, you heard the same speech for the hundredth time, only this time it had a bit more finality to it. You couldn’t tell him, but you were happy it was over. This incessant crush of three years hadn’t brought him any closer to her, but much closer to you.

His lack of attraction to you (rude) had made you a confidant, and in the beginning, it was mutual. But you’d quickly gotten over your crush, yet Jungkook had never moved on. Maybe it was because you actually got to know JiEun, her obnoxious meticulousness, the impossible nighttime routine she had even when sleeping over, and the god awful snoring that last for hours. In all of college, JiEun had been dating books, so Jungkook never had the harsh smack of reality to put him into gear or take him out of the race. This was probably what Jungkook needed. The healing would begin.

You stay with Jungkook until he calms down. At some point, you’d moved to his bed and watched some cheesy firefighter romance on his computer, him saying how he was supposed to be that guy for her and you jabbing jokes here and there.

After Jungkook was ready to pass out, you bid goodbye.

“Hey,” Jungkook calls from his place curled up on the bed. You turn at the door, looking at how small he appeared on the bed. His black shirt had him blending in with the comforter, and with his knees tucked so tight, you feel another wave of pity hit you. “Thanks. I know it’s annoying, but, you know, thanks…” He gives a forced smile, then pulls his beanie down over his eyes to hide his embarrassment, somehow forgetting you’d just watched him sniffle for nearly three hours. You give a small smile and a nod as you walk out. Your witty comments are misplaced for now.

Walking into the living room, Hobi is still on his console with a different game. Namjoon is in the kitchen, inspecting microwave dinner instructions.

“Don’t blow it up again” you tease.

“Hey, I don’t live with a chef; I do my best!” Namjoon shot back. He throws the food in the microwave.

Namjoon and Hobi had been Jungkook’s older brother’s roommates. Jungkook moved in when his older brother moved out. Kook revered Namjoon, his older brother’s “cool” best friend, but you couldn’t see it. Now Hobi, he could be impressive. His ability to remain so lazy yet so energetic never ceased to amaze you. He spent all day dancing, then all night gaming. All the time shouting and laughing and cheering. In the last two years, you still haven’t seen him sleeping.

“He studied abroad one semester in Italy and now he’s a chef,” you exasperate, still knowing there was ribeye with cream sauce in your own fridge.

“Whatever,” after typing numbers, Namjoon sits on the counter. His arms flex as he pulls himself onto the counter, and you stare absentmindedly at the delicateness of his fingers that lay in contrast to the veins running up his arms. Namjoon clenches his arms twice, and you look up at his eyes, unabashed at being caught. “So, how’s the kid, New Girl?”

Grabbing a chair at the island, you let out a long sigh. “I think the time has finally come for Kook to get a girl. An attainable one,” you add on.

“Can finally go after him yourself?” Hobi shouts from the couch before shouting at his game. You roll your eyes as you pretend to roll your whole body out of the chair. You had been the first girl Jungkook ever brought over, and Hobi is convinced you are the older lover he needs.

“It’s true,” Namjoon adds. “The time has come to break the walls of the friendzone and date a man, one who understands why you’re living with his best friends.”

“Ha. Ha.” You lean back in your chair, arms crossed.

“Are we taking bets? Is this happening?” Hobi calls.

“He’s just a friend,” you interrupt the impending bidding war. Namjoon tries again with a nonchalant wave of his hand. “A friend.” you emphasize. That’s your cue to leave.

The walk to your apartment is an easy hike from Jungkook’s. The university, which you all attend, is surrounded by off campus housing due to the outrageous prices they charge to live on-campus. Not that off-campus is any cheaper. You’d lucked out, though, due to Jungkook’s friends desperately needing to curb their own rent.

“How’s the kid?” Yoongi asks shortly after you shove the door open. Your heart leaps out of your chest at his voice. Looking up from your bent over position to take your shoes off, you see two scrawny legs attached to a pear of socks covered in teddy bear faces. Rarely is Yoongi out of his room, especially this late at night. You must have caught him at the right moment, because his hands were full with a bowl of cereal and a beer. He apparently also didn’t expect to be caught, because he lightly shuffles his lower half out of view, cute little bear faces staring back at you from his boxers as well.

“I’m great, thanks,” you mutter, tossing your shoes into the growing pile. You fall onto your own couch, mirroring the position Hobi is probably still sitting in.

“I didn’t ask about you,” Yoongi says with a smart tone. “Hobi already told me what happened.” God, Yoongi and his Hobi-hardon.

“Then why are you asking me?” you whine, rolling over to try and find the remote.

“Jin has it,” Yoongi calls as he wanders back into his room. You whine again, Jin’s name echoing through the apartment and probably up to your neighbors.

“Yoongi kept trying to change the channel! Disrespectful. As the oldest here, we watch what I want when I want,” Jin marches out of his room and slaps the remote into your hand, already negating his prior declaration. You latch onto his wrist before he can turn away. Holding it with both your hands, you stare up at him with your best pout, tucking your elbows in to look extra perky.

“Is there food to spare in the fridge?” You ask sweetly. Jin looks away, only to show the redness of his ears.

“Christ, and you wanna talk about feminism?” He grumbles, but still nods and turns back to his room. You snicker, remote in hand and snacks awaiting you. “Maybe you should try that shit on Jungkook.”

“FRIEND!” You shout, turning on the TV to block everyone’s innate concerns around you. Friend.

* * *

 

The healing process takes longer to begin than expected. You find yourself at Jungkook’s place three days in a row. His little grubby face staring up at you, saying he can’t even do his English elective homework because it reminds him of Ji Eun. He even has a drunken episode where he calls up a friend asking how to dress in drag in a last but utterly pathetic attempt to make himself a suitor for Ji Eun.

A few days was understandable, but a week? Two weeks? You aren’t having it. The amount of times you received texts from Namjoon saying “send help plz” was starting to drive you over the moon. When Jungkook refused the invite to come to your house party because Ji Eun would be there, you’d had it. Hobi tried to pester Kook into joining, but instead his shockingly deflated ego crumbled to the floor right there.

“Where’s the kid?” Yoongi shouts from the couch when Namjoon and Hobi walk in. He’s saddled up nicely, legs spread wide and arms slung over the edge of the couch, unaware he’s taking up at least three people’s possible seats that are leaning against the wall. He shakes his beer in light circles absentmindedly, already knowing the answer to his question.

“Clinging to his bed demanding he’s found one challenge he can’t and refuses to meet,” Hobi laughs. As he walks towards y’all, Yoongi scoots over and brings his legs in, keeping his arms draped over the couch as Hobi plops down next to him. If you could call it plopping. Hobi was too graceful to use such a word. Joon waits for Yoongi to move over more, but Yoongi just stares at him blankly, handing Hobi his beer.

“And?” You continue from your perch on the arm rest. Joon grumbles as he moves over to lean on the other side of the couch, a stranger handing him a beer. You crane your neck towards your kitchen, wondering how other people suddenly started handing at your beer in your house. You’d never been much of a party person, but it seemed to come with the property. What was usually the six of you hanging out escalated into everyone bringing one or two friends, and suddenly there are thirty people in the small space.

“I thought I was going to break the bed post!” Joon shouts, throwing his hands up in exasperation, almost sloshing beer to the floor. You roll yours eyes, but could see Jungkook’s killer thighs crushing the bedpost in protest.

“We gotta talk,” you sigh, crossing your arms.

“Yeah, mom and dad gotta solve this situation,” Hobi bursts out laughing. You quirk an eyebrow at him and can almost feel Joon roll his eyes beside you. “You know,” Hobi continues, “Joon’s like his ideal dad, and you’re always over taking care of him.” You and Joon continue to stare at Hobi. “Right, well, Yoongi, let’s go somewhere else.”

Yoongi doesn’t even nod as he jumps to his feet. You slide off your perch onto the new open space of the couch and Joon plops down beside you, nowhere near as graceful as Hobi’s previous plop.

“Hey mom,” Joon says. You shove his shoulder. “Real talk, this is fucking ridiculous.” Joon plays with the bottle in his hand. “We all know Jungkook is a sore loser, but this is pretty bad. I don’t think it’s just Ji Eun, I think he can’t handle that he lost to himself as well. He’s still so nervous around girls. And with a face like that. What a loser,” Joon takes a swig of his beer.

You look over at him for a second, his eyebrows drawn in making him look cute rather than pensive. You couldn’t help the smile creeping on your face, finding his concern for Jungkook cute. His eyes dart over to you real quick, then he pulls at his beanie, shrugging.

“I mean, you wouldn’t be the worst rebound,” Jin’s voice rings out behind you as his elbow knocks the back of your neck. He’d returned from his rounds of marking X’s on all the minors hands in case the cops showed up. As you turn to face him, you catch a glimpse of Ji Eun sitting in In Na’s lap. They’d come in with Hobi’s sister, but now they seemed to have abandoned any awareness that a party was happening around them as the atmosphere of honeymoon phase surrounded them like a forcefield. Maybe it was a good thing Jungkook hadn’t come.

“Wow thanks,” you mutter, grabbing the sharpie and trying to jab it back at Jin.

“Hobi is still taking bets,” Namjoon teases, and you manage to catch a streak of sharpie up his arm, sleeves safe from danger around his elbows. You huff and cap the sharpie, dodging Jin’s attempt to take it back.

“I’m serious! I’m proposing operation get Jungkook a girl!” You shout, pointing the sharpie resolutely in the air.

“The best way to get over someone is to get under someone,” Jin nods. Wise advice as always.

“That’s a thesis-level project there. Turning our little Kookie into a man,” Namjoon laughs. His smile is wide as he leans back on his elbow on the couch, properly facing you and Jin. You don’t miss the slight raise of his eyebrows at the lesbian showdown happening behind you three.

“Well, I’m the only one with a thesis here, so how ‘bout it?” You look between the two boys, who look at each other for a second. Jin wiggles his eyebrows at Namjoon who just stares back. Eventually, they high five and Jin lifts himself from the couch. “I’ll go tell Yoongles and Hobi. We convene at sunrise. Operation Get-Jung-Sprung begins.”

You both watch as Jin walks off. “That was probably his worst pun yet,” Namjoon sighs.

“Punny or not, Kook’s gettin’ a girl by the end of this semester, mark my words,” you bring your beer to your lips, eyeing Ji Eun and In Na, happy in love, sizing up the competition for Jungkook’s heart.


	2. With a Little Help From My Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang tries to get Jungkook dating. Jimin and Tae make their debut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and rearranged the beginning of chapter 1. This is quickly becoming a sitcom, please enjoy the shenanigans.

You did not expect to actually convene at sunrise.

  
When Namjoon and Hope appear at your door at the shocking hour of 7 am, they don’t expect your groggy scowl either. Although, the sight of Jungkook escorted cop-style between Namjoon and Hope’s firm grasp is a site to see. They led him into the living room, shoved him to the couch and stepped back, shouting “this is an intervention” in unison.  
  
“This is a home invasion,” Yoongi grumbles from the hallway, face swollen from sleep and drinking. He nudges a trashbag Jin already filled.  
  
“We said sunrise” Jin remarks over his shoulder, in the kitchen making pancakes. His broad shoulders shift back and forth when he swings the skillet, somehow catching each flip of the pancake. Your stomach still feels bloated from the beer and you opt for yogurt, throwing Yoongi the same. He easily catches it despite closed eyes, sprawled down opposite the convict that is Jungkook. Rounding the couch to sit next to Namjoon, you hand out variations of banana and strawberry milk.  
  
Jungkook begrudgingly takes one but refuses to make eye contact. “What do I need an intervention from? I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the most shitfaced last night,” his eyes drift to Yoongi who cocks an eyebrow in response.  
  
“Your heart!” Hope strikes an elaborate pose, resembling Hamlet, and begins his monologue, “Jungkook, we have called you here today because we love you. We care for you. And most importantly, we care about your quality of life,” Jungkook’s legs snap shut when Hope jabs a finger towards his crotch. “Your years of unrequited turmoil have finally ended, and we are here to coax you, gently but firmly, into the wild, exciting adventure that is dating.” Hope bends to the floor, face in his hands, brow furrowed in determination.

Jungkook shrugs and makes to move, but yelps when Jin’s hands clamp down on his shoulders. “You will not leave here until,” Hope’s face snaps to Yoongi and he gestures, but Yoongi just huffs.  
  
“I don’t want to be in this.”  
  
“You promised me,” Hope pleads, and Yoongi adverts his gaze from Hope’s pouty lips.  
  
“You will not leave here ‘til you have three tinder dates, hoorah” Yoongi ends with an unenthusiastic cheer. A large, heart-shaped grin spreads across Hope’s face. In one swift movement, he moves from the floor to the loveseat, crushing Yoongi’s feet. No complaint comes from Yoongi.  
  
“We are going to get our Jungcutie some booty,” Jin pats Kook’s shoulders in an alternating rhythm. You and Namjoon scowl at Jin’s terrible epilogue.  
  
“Guys, it’s too soon,” Jungkook crosses his arms.  
  
“1 month,” Yoongi notes.  
  
“And I need time to be myself,” He raises his nose to the air.  
  
“Selling out the city’s stock of dipndots,” Yoongi notes again.  
  
“And- can you stop?” Jungkook glowers at Yoongi.  
  
You twist on the couch to speak your own reasoning, but Namjoon butts in, “Look, kid, as one brother to another,” the slightest pink dashes across Kook’s cheeks at the mention of brother. “I think this could be good for you. You’ve had years to love yourself, be yourself, so now you gotta open yourself, get out there.”  
  
Jungkook’s eyes waver, pulling his bottom lip in, but he reaches to pull his phone out. “Okay, how do I download that fire app?”

Admittedly, the gang’s passion started out strong, but eventually, befittingly, everything derails.  
  
“No dog pictures, skip.” “Shit, I know her, skip.” “Can’t we turn on men and women?”  
“Only headshots, what if she has three arms? skip.”  
  
After an hour, everyone breaks for pancakes and bacon. Jin had set the stack of pancakes and a mountain of bacon on the center of the table where you all crowd around. The rickety table included four chairs, but Joon had dragged a living room chair in and Hope leans against the window, while Yoongi stoops on a barstool not far off.

Kook continues to swipe left at his usual seat but surveys the table of mouths stuffed with a variety of pancake flavors after a few minutes. “Joon, what kind of girls do you like?” Jungkook’s eyes are round, ready to take in his idle’s advice.  
  
Namjoon stutters a cough and pounds his chest. You watch Jin and Hope wink at each other. Adjusting his shirt with the shrug of a shoulder, Namjoon contemplates the question. “I don’t know, man. Girls, all the same dude.”

“You sure? Not the tomboy type? The chill type?” Yoongi doesn’t look up from where he pushes his pancake around the plate tucked over his perched knees. Joon hangs his head and pulls his sweater paws up around his fingers.

With a sigh, you heave out of your seat. “Who needs more coffee?” You offer. Jin and Yoongi nod, and you make your way back around the kitchen island. Sliding your phone out of your pocket, there’s a text from Ji Eun.

_Ji Eun_

_Going ok?_

 

You’d drunkenly told Ji Eun about the plan before she left the party last night. She was sweet too check in, but that sweetness is what kept Jungkook snared.

_You_

_Woah, are you watching us?_

_Going well. Still plowing through the options_

_Ji Eun_

_Wish I could help_

You roll your eyes, knowing Ji Eun is probably texting you on the couch next to Inna right now.

 

_You_

_Yeah yeah, get back to being lovebirds_

_Ji Eun_

_~v_v~_

  
  
“Guys,” Jungkook mumbles. You snap your phone back into your pocket, somehow considering he could read your mind and know who you were texting. However, he’s staring at his phone, “What about her?”  
  
Once all five eyes are on him, Jungkook realizes what he’s done and draws the phone towards his chest, but not before Jin pucks it from his clutches. Jin clears his throat, holding the phone like a treasured goblet, “Lisa, bio: music, travel, three dog print emojis”  
  
“Good start!” Hope thumbs up.  
  
Jungkook rubs the back of his neck, face full of pancake when he muffles out, “I mean she’s cute but I don’t know if it would work out.”  
  
“Look,” you slam your fork to the table and Jin and Hope almost jump out of their skin. “Jin’s joke sucked but he’s right. You’re a cutie, and this is a steal. It’s not a commitment, just trying the field.”  
  
“I... I don’t even know the field,” the whole table eyes each other, trying not to smile at the cuteness of this testosterone bunny.  
  
“We staged this intervention for a reason,” you continue, hand on Jungkook’s back. “I know what a girl wants, these guys... have made a few successful attempts at wooing a girl,” you ignore the gush of complaints, “We’ve officially moved into the next phase: securing the date.”  
  
“Yeah, I already said hi,” Yoongi slides the phone to Jungkook who turns the darkest red you’ve ever seen, momentarily wondering if he’s choked on the mass of pancake bugling from his cheeks.

“You didn- SHE ANSWERED!” Jungkook practically wails. The table lifts off its back legs due to everyone launching towards Kook’s phone screen.

  
“A SMILEY! DUDE, YOU ARE IN!” Joon shouts, clapping Kook on the back. Okay, now Jungkook really is choking.  
  
“WHAT DO I DO,” Kook chucks the phone across the table.  
  
“TEXT HER BACK,” Hope shouts, dancing in a circle.  
  
“And say what?” Kook folds his face into his arms.  
  
“DTF,” Yoongi hums.  
  
“DONT SAY THAT,” you shout, grabbing the phone. “Phase 3: what to do.” You look at Hope dancing, Yoongi dozing off, and Joon shaking Jin in triumph. “What to do as a normal person.”  
  
“To have her do you,” Jin tacks on, leaning in his chair, opening up a stray beer from the night before at the late hour of 10am.

  
“I think we need more of those,” Jungkook holds his hand out, phone in the other, and you all return to the living room to commence phase 3.  
  
After notes, an anthology on love from Namjoon, and Yoongi walking out to possibly conceal a boner after Hope used him as a dinner prop, Jungkook rolls his head on the edge of the couch in defeat.

“Okay, maybe what we need is a real demo,” Hope suggests. “You,” he jabs a finger at you as he slides from the couch. “And you,” he now jabs the finger towards Namjoon. “Live simulation. Lesson 1. Greeting, get on the couch and show him how it’s done.”

You and Joon look at each other then back at Hope. “What?”

Hope rolls his eyes. “Y’all are mom and dad, the resident experts. Show your son how it’s done.”

“I never want my mom and dad to ever show me this stuff,” Jungkook sniffs, but he’s sinking onto the floor opposite the couch, at attention. You shrug your shoulders and motion for Namjoon to join you on the couch.

You both center yourself on the couch, knees grazing. Namjoon inhales a centering breath, so you do the same despite giggles. You readjust your hair for effect. When he drapes an arm over the back of the couch, his eyes are uncannily serious. “Aye girl, what brings you here?” With his chin cocked, his eyes are hooded, his stare too tense and you laugh.

“This is too serious!” You manage through giggles.

Namjoon doesn’t pull back but lights up with a smirk. “Serious about you.”

“Stop!” you shout laughing and rolling away. Namjoon grabs at his face and shouts in exasperation, his facade breaking into utter embarrassment.

“I can’t with her! She’s… she’s…” Namjoon stutters with his hands motioning to someone to give him the word he is looking for that will somehow not offend you.

“She’s Noona!” Jungkook pipes up. You grimace. Jungkook explained that word before, meaning older sister in Korean. It was endearing, but a little desexualizing when a whole group of men agrees you are only sister material.

“Wow, rude. Twice today,” you say.

“Says the girl rejecting me so hard,” Namjoon grouches.

“Why can’t I do this with Jin or something? He’ll at least go along.”

“Did I hear my name?” Jin saunters in with new beers.

“Woo me!” You shout, falling onto the couch with your arm stretched out for a beer. Jin looks down at you with a disapproving glance, but his ears are nevertheless pink as usual.

Jungkook twists to his knees and rests his chin on the couch’s armrest. “How do you get girls?”

“I just look at them and,” Jin brings his hand to his mouth, gazing into the distance, and releases a smooch in the same direction. You find yourself laughing again when Jin winks at you. When you wink back, the blush creeps from his ears down his neck.

“This is useless if you guys can’t be in my ear,” Jungkook pouts. You pinch his cheeks. They look so cute all puffed out under his big brown eyes.

“Awh, honey, you can do this,” you coo, releasing his ace to mess his hair.  
  
“That’s a great idea,” Yoongi says when he reemerges in the room. Everyone cranes over furniture peep at Yoongi in real day clothes. “It works in movies, why can’t we try that hidden microphone secret agent shit?”  
  
“I’m desperate enough,” Jungkook huffs, tongue tucking into his cheek.

“Do we even know anyone who could do that?” Joon scoffs.

“Actually, Joon, we do know someone. Funny you should ask,” a smile tugs at the corner of Yoongi’s mouth. “I would say that most compsci minors know how to rig a Bluetooth…”

“No,” Joon grits his teeth, palms braced on either of his knees.

“Jimin,” Yoongi practically cackles. Joon rubs his hand over his face.

“The gay guy?” Hope interjects, looking up from his phone.

“Gay for Joon,” Jin hums. Joon finds a pillow to chuck at him. Jin catches it easily and begins to fluffing. “Plus, game is not boundaried by sexuality. He’s got the moves; he’s got the tech.”

“With Jimin’s help, I could rig it myself,” Jungkook contemplates. He looks over at Joon for his approval.

“Fine, but I demand he knows that I am single and not looking to mingle,” Joon says as he tucks a pillow in his lap defensively.

“You are sounding super homophobic, dude,” Yoongi says.

“Excuse you, I am an ally,” Joon waves toward you and Hope, his hand dancing dangerously close in the direction of a glaring Yoongi. “This has nothing to do with sexuality, but with terrifying persistency.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It is surprisingly easy to rig a walkie-talkie-date-set-up nowadays. Back in the day, you scrambled to find an inconspicuous headset. You had a beeping walkie-talkie that made scratching noises between all the input, and people involved hid in a coat closet two stores down.

But this is the future. And Jimin is a tech whiz. Not to mention that apparently, Jungkook already had a good idea of how to turn his airpods into Bluetooth walkie-talkies. So here you, Joon, and Yoongi were. Sitting at the oak bar of your usual pub with your phone on a coaster in front of you. And there was Jungkook, three tables away waiting on some girl if he didn’t bounce away from the jolting of his knee every now and then.

The restaurant wasn’t a bad setting for a first date. The lights gave off a warm glow against the outdated red velvet interior, and all the tables sat haphazardly around a square bar in the center of the pub. You all came here frequently, so Jungkook already feels comfortable in the setting.

“Testing, testing,” Yoongi grumbles from where his head rests in his arm, Irish car bomb half finished already. “Jungkook, can you hear how you ruined my evening at home, over?”

You grimace over at Yoongi. Of course, he would be upset that you dragged him out on a day that Hoseok had dance practice.

“Testing, testing,” Jungkook looks like he is sniffing his armpits from this angle, “Does Yoongi realize I look like a psycho talking to myself?”

“You look like a psycho with the way you are practically doing half second squat reps in your seat,” you snap back. You all stifle giggles as Jungkook becomes rigid in his seat, no longer pacing in place.

“Jungkook, do your best man. This is just practice,” Namjoon tunes in, face soft even if Jungkook can’t tell. Jungkook’s head bobs from behind.

A minute or two later, the three of you now on your second drink, Lisa walks in. Each taking a turn to inconspicuously stretch, you survey her appearance. She’s incredibly thin, tiny, would be cute next to Jungkook’s large frame. She walks with confidence and a massive smile beams across her face as she takes the seat across from Jungkook, who only thought to get up and pull out the chair for her _after_ she sat down.

“I’m so glad I was able to find you,” comes through slightly muffled on your end of the call. You all stare at the phone, then look back at Jungkook, then stare at the phone.

“Fucking answer her!” Yoongi hisses, followed by a nervous laugh from Jungkook as he says he’s glad to meet her. Ducking your line of sight under your elbow, you see Jungkook’s frame loosening a bit as Lisa starts to talk about something.

“Awh, they look cute,” You coo. When you get no response, you turn to a rigid, pleading Joon who now has Jimin perched by his shoulder, 20 minutes late.

“Jimin, you were completely useless, why are you here?” Yoongi says from his spot still wedged in his arms like a pillow.

“Why are you here?” Comes Jungkook’s voice from the other end of the phone. You and Joon both reach to cover the phone as you glare at Yoongi, head still resting inches from the phone. A confusing stutter comes from Lisa before Jungkook’s voice comes across again “Ha. Ha. I don’t know WHY I said that.”

Yoongi mouths sorry. Jimin on the other hand, pouts, taking the seat next to Yoongi.

Joon intentionally took the seat closest to the wall, remembering the way Jimin’s hands made their way around his waist or into his lap anytime he laughed at something _anyone_ had said last time you all went out.

“Aw Yoongi, don’t be like that. I had to make myself look cute,” Jimin beamed then, and you couldn’t help smiling back. He was a cute little guy. His ripped jeans said edgey, but he still had a loose button up tucked in. The outfit gave quite the professional don’t-give-a-fuck appearance that you could appreciate.

“Long time no see, Jimin!” You saluted him at a volume the phone hopefully couldn’t pick up, but he only returned a small smile, looking past you at Joon. He rested his elbow on the table and gave a small wave in Namjoon’s direction.

Joon leans further into the wall and smiles back. You elbow his rudeness. He raises his eyebrows at you, but you continue to nonverbally scold him while he talks into the phone. “Lisa, that’s a strong name, mean oath to God. Loyalty.”  He then sets the phone down and focuses on the group. “That’s the kinda girl JK should be on a date with,” Namjoon mutters to himself with a stroke of his chin. You peek up from your menu, actually considering the bar food. This place has an entire page of the menu dedicated to appetizers.

“JK needs a girl who is loyal because he has a lot to give,” Joon’s matter-of-fact tone on the last statement left you a little lost for words, but not for long. It’s true. Jungkook has a big heart and gave his all to everything, including his unrequited love. He deserves a girl who will love him just as strongly.

“You do know that’s what her parents intended, not that she actually might be worthy,” Yoongi scoffs as he takes your menu, satisfied with the shot at Joon’s ego. “Ask her what she wants to eat, you guys haven’t looked at the menu yet,” he adds in the direction of the phone. You are pretty sure the sudden *snap* you hear is Jungkook whipping his menu open, judging by his nervous laugh.

“You never know,” Joon retorts, “My name rings pretty true.” You nod along, continuing your critique of the menu photos with the flip of a page. Yoongi eyes you as he tries to read through the menu.

Silence. You wonder how long it will take for Joon to blurt out his name’s meaning. Glancing over at his figure slouched into the wall, he just peers at you, hands crossed in front of him on the table, like he attended a boardroom meeting more than a restaurant.

You let out a long sigh and plaster on your customer service smile. But before you can ask, you hear Jimin speak for you “and what does your name mean, Joonie?” The pitch and overly aggressive friendliness in his voice cause Joon to lean back, displeased by who finally acknowledged him. Jimin leans up out of his seat, feet on the rungs of the barstool, chin resting in both hands, staring attentively at Namjoon.

“Talent. And as we all know, I’ve got plenty of it,” Joon waves himself up and down with a cocked eyebrow.

“Riiiiiight,” you hum, propping your elbow and resting your chin, mimicking Jimin’s pose. You give him a once over as well. Joon’s hands start to move from the table towards his face, but he puts them back down, balled into fists. Determined not to show weakness-- cute.

“Well, what does your name mean,” Joon asks with a snap. He picks up his water and takes a gulp with a glance back at Jungkook’s table. His Adam's apple bobs with the heavy gulp.

“Well, if we are going to talk about self-fulfilling name-prophecies…” you tilt your eyes to the sky, contemplating whatever could throw Joon off the most. “Probably good dick sucking.”

Joon’s drink would have launched across the table if he hadn’t cupped his mouth so fast. He erupts into coughing and you put your menu up to hide your utter glee, peaking around to see Jungkook’s ears just as red as Joon’s when he cuts a glare your way.

“Wow,” Jungkook’s voice rings loud and clear over the forgotten phone speaker, “this place sure is loud tonight, huh?” the edge in his voice could not be missed.

As Joon clears his throat for the fifth or sixth time, he jerks your menu down to the table. “Seriously?” He whisper-barks, chin tilting towards Jungkook to remind you of the real mission here.

“Are you saying I need to validate my claim?” Your mouth still plastered with a smug grin as Joon wipes a hand down his face, pulling his beanie down over ears, now well aware that they are burning.

“I wouldn’t mind a little competition,” Jimin says just as smugly, and you both high five.

“Bet,” you call. Your giggles are interrupted by a long “ummmm” coming through the speaker. “What is it, Jungkook?” You call into the phone. Leaning in, Joon places a hand on your shoulder. Jungkook’s code word was his signature “um”, hoping the tag-word seemed deep-in-thought instead of anything weird. You hadn’t expected him to actually use it.

“You don’t have to answer,” Lisa’s muffled voice comes through. “I’ve been on a few of these dates, just wondering how the app has worked out for you.” OH, so that’s why Jungkook is stuttering. Quite the move by her, to be asking about dating life on the first date. Jungkook probably isn’t sure how to answer to ruin the question. And the fact that “VIRGIN” isn’t floating above his forehead either.

“Dude just say you’ve just hopped on the app, trying things out, are looking for someone special,” Jimin rambles off between you and Yoongi. The three of you look at him. His answer was surprisingly tame. “What? I’m not always talking about dick,” he says with a shrug.

The rest of the evening continues on without any problems. The four of you tune in and out of the conversation, but for the most part, you all focus on other things like the possibility of a snow day while Jungkook handles most of the conversation on his own.

After about four drinks in, you swivel in your bar stool to directly observe Jungkook’s table. A warm smile pulls your cheeks up from seeing his relaxed back, arms waving occasionally and Lisa laughing. It is nice to see Jungkook with a girl. Having fun. He looks good, too. The light, yellow sweater fits over his arms nicely, and the jeans may be a bit fancy but fit that first date impression. The veins in his forearm are visible when he scratches his head, and a drunken giggle rises in your throat.

“Whatcha thinkin bout, new girl?” Namjoon takes your attention, and you find him leaning against the wall, eyes on you. They're gentle, an alcoholic haze giving him a sloppy smile. You giggle again.

“Jungkook looks so cute right now,” you sigh. Something in Joon’s eyes flickers. “I just… he’s not the kid I TA’ed anymore, you know? And Ji Eun isn’t all that great. And he is just such a nice guy… you know?” You look back.

“Sounds like someone has a crush,” Jimin sing songs as he wanders over to prop up on the bar next to you. Except, with his height, his elbows can’t reach so he settles for clasping his hands in front of him.

Something else more concerned flickers through Joon’s eyes when Jimin’s shoulder aligns with his. “Infatuated, intrigued,” Jimin hums. “I know what that feels like…” You aren’t quite sure if Joon actually manages to flash the letters HELP ME in his eyes or if it’s your imagination as Jimin places a firm hand on Joon’s shoulder, leaning in. “Do you have a crush, Joonie?”

A loud, nervous laugh bursts from Namjoon as he continues to stare wide-eyed and pleading at you, terrifying honestly.

Sighing, you swing your chair back around with too much force. You reach over, interlacing your fingers with his, pulling both your hands to your cheek to use them as a headrest as the world spins a bit.

“Joonie doesn’t need to worry about crushes. Right, Joonie?” Each time the nickname falls off your lips, you coat it in something sickly sweet. You make a kissy face then glance over at Jimin, smiling wide. Jimin purses his lips and draws his eyebrows in.

“What?” He accuses, eyes dancing between you, your hands, and Namjoon. “Since…?”

Namjoon’s grip tightens on your hand, his cheeks blushing pink, his eyes still wide. “Yeah, totally, no need to worry.”

Jimin gives you both one last glance then moves his arm from Namjoon’s shoulder to his hip. Rolling his eyes, he checks on Jungkook one last time. “Whatever, I got you rigged up for the date, had some drinks, but looks like I gotta go.” He turns on his heels, winking over his shoulder. “Bye, guys.”

You smirk back and watch him walk off out of the restaurant. As he passes Jungkook, you realize you’ve completely forgotten him once again. He is standing as Lisa also gets out of her chair, and he makes his way to the door. You almost tell him to stop, but some part of your buzzed mind knows how incredibly weird it would be to leave her and walk over to the bar.

“Dude, thank you. So much,” Namjoon huffs out, his hand still intertwined with yours against your cheek. You let it go and rest your elbows on the counter.

“Yeah, that was a super nice favor of you,” Yoongi says, contemplating the bar taps with his drink in his hand. “To pretend to be Namjoon’s girlfriend.” He peers over at Namjoon. “Only to make sure Jimin leaves.” You aren’t quite sure why Yoongi looks so smug, but before you can ask, Jungkook slaps an arm around you and Namjoon.

“Mom! Dad! I did it!” He cheers, nose scrunched and eyes crinkled up. You can’t help but give a sloppy smile back. You swing your arms around his waist.

“Congrats, baby!” You coo, nustling into his chest. “Your first date.”

“It’s not-” Jungkook huffs and tries to tug away from your nuzzling. “I’ve been on dates before. It’s just been a while.”

“What am I if they are mom and dad? I came, too,” Yoongi pouts.

“You’re my uncle. Or my Uncle-in-law,” Jungkook shrugs, releasing from your grasp and sitting next to Yoongi.

“What’s that even-” Yoongi stops before he can finish the sentence and downs the rest of his drink. “Nevermind.” He throws some cash on the table and stands. “Great job tonight.” He grumbles then walks off.

“Wow touchy,” Jungkook says when Yoongi slinks out the door.

“Soooooo….” Namjoon calls, pushing a beer passed you to Jungkook. “How was it?”

Jungkook blushes, spinning his beer back and forth on the coaster. He bites his lip. “It was… okay. A good first date. But I don’t think I’m going to continue to pursue it.”

“Oh, okay,” Namjoon nods and returns to his drink. You, on the other hand, are not satisfied. The three of you finish your drinks and decide to return to the house. You want to stop by your own to change clothes, and Jungkook offers to drive you back.

As you both walk to his car, you think about Jungkook’s vague response, the way he curtly ended things with Lisa, and Namjoon didn’t continue to push it. You sneak a glance up at him. Even though he presented well before, his large black jacket and boat hat changed his look back into his signature black and baggy style. He stares ahead, hands shoved in his pockets just like you in the cold air. From this angle, you could watch his breath puff out in perfect circles before winding into the sky.

He seemed to notice your contemplation and stops next to you. The car isn’t far, one of the few left in the parking lot. “What?” He asks.

You turn to face him, lifting your head and watching your own cold breath blur your view every now and again. “What’s up? You just had a date. You already seem over it, despite how worked up you were. What happened?”

Jungkook holds your gaze before he watches his shoe scuff at the ground. “It’s just…” He sags his shoulders. “She’s not what I’m looking for. It’s not what I want right now.”

Namjoon wasn’t going to push it, but you needed to. “What _are_ you looking for?”

Jungkook slowly lifts his head, eyeing you. A flicker similar to Namjoon’s crosses his eyes. He takes a step forward. “I’m looking for-” he cuts himself off. “I don’t know. I don’t know yet. But the answer wasn’t with her, so I am… I just can’t…” He tucks his chin into the collar of his jacket.

You reach for his arm, to ease him into explaining what’s wrong, but he perks up instead.

“Your hands are so red,” he remarks. You look at your outstretched hand. “Here,” before you can protest, Jungkook is unzipping his jacket and tosses it over your shoulders. He adjusts the collar around your shoulders. “There.”

You laugh, looking at him fuss over the thing. “We only have a few more feet til the car.”

He turns to walk on over to the passenger side door.

“It’ll be cold while the car warms up,” he beams from the side of the car, chin resting on the doorframe. “At your service, Noona.”

You laugh as you make your way into the car. “You know, it’s kinda creepy when you call me mom _and_ Noona.”

Jungkook just shrugs and slams the door. Once on his side, he says, “We are a pretty incestuous group already.”

You laugh again, kicking your feet up onto his dashboard. “Don’t use that word, please.”

He laughs and grabs at your thigh, pulling your feet from the dashboard before cranking the car into gear.

“Do you want your jacket back?” You ask as you snuggle down into the seat.

“Give it back to me later, you need it when you walk back to your apartment,” he says, looking straight ahead. With one hand on the wheel, he looks cool in the big car.

“Oooh, such a gentleman,” you coo, and Jungkook bites his lip even though he still refuses to look over.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
“You aren’t by chance the same TA that Jimin was referring to, are you?” the sound of Taehyung’s voice grates through your ears, your finger freezes over the clicker. You turn away from the powerpoint, one you actually crafted not-before-class-started, and search the classroom for your most obnoxious student. It isn’t hard to pinpoint him, the only student paying attention in a classroom meant for triple the students that actually filled it. Yet, somehow, they were all sitting in the last four rows.

Taehyung sat with his arms tucked between his legs, most-likely-fake glasses perched on his nose, expression innocent.

“Excuse me?” You clarify, trying to maintain a pokerface.

“Are you the TA that Jimin talks about who is friends with Jungkook?” Taehyung repeats with more details. A round of “oo”s sounds from your other students, and the pencil in your hand is dangerously close to snapping. Now they are all paying attention, of course.

“Are you under the impression that this is something more important than the rhetorical triangle, Mr. Kim?” You hope the shaking in your voice is as invisible as the blush creeping on your face.

Kim Taehyung, the transfer student in your class this year. Technically a junior, along with Jungkook and Jimin, the question made sense. But the fate of him knowing those two was cruel. Even crueler is imagining such an attractive, troublesome trio together.

Taehyung shrugs and leans back in his seat. “I don’t know, it just clicked. Thought I would ask.”

“I would appreciate it if you would keep the clicking to any Kahoot quizzes we partake in this week,” You blow him off and continue teaching class.

Once the period ends, you hover by the door, ready to pounce. He tended to ask some bizarre questions (i.e. “but if I thought of the definition, do I need to cite it just because it so happens to be the exact same as Dictionary.com?”). However, embarrassing you in front of the class by asking about your personal life extends beyond tolerable content.

Instead, Taehyung bounces down the steps of the auditorium right to you. “So, are you?” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and smiles a wide, boxy smile.

You give up possibly convincing Taehyung that this is inappropriate and instead move to clean up. “I don’t know many Jimin’s, so I am probably the friend of Jimin’s you are referring to. But how did you know it was me?”

Taehyung laughs and sits on the edge of your desk. You sent him a glare he doesn’t catch due to pulling his phone out of his pocket. He hums, scrolling through something. “I read the syllabus. Your name is at the top.”

That gets your attention. Someone actually looked at it. Amazing, since he apparently didn’t read far enough to get to the due dates. Despite better judgment, you indulge Taehyung. “Oh?”

He taps his phone to his chin, sending you a mischievous grin. “He seemed to be really mad at you the other day. Something about a boy. Apparently a few boys.”

You stop packing your extra printouts into your bag. Mad? About… oh. Namjoon. You can’t help but laugh and Taehyung smiles along. “I see… Either way, Taehyung, I don’t appreciate you making comments about things irrelevant to class, especially when it is related to my personal life.”

Taehyung nods absentmindedly, still staring at his phone. “So are you going to be at Yoongi’s party this Friday?”

Again, you stop packing to appraise Taehyung. “Am I… Am I going to be at Yoongi’s party? You’ve been to Yoongi’s parties?”

Taehyung nods. “Yep, and I’ve seen you there. Jungkook, Jimin and I had a group project in CompSci, I’ve come to a few ever since. Yoongi is so cool.” Taehyung shows you a picture of your roommate while you contemplate whether to reveal he is indeed your roommate and one of your students is about to be drinking in your house.

“I may be there,” you say curtly. Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you usher Taehyung out of the room with you. “Don’t forget common courtesy next class, and please start doing the reading responses.”

“Cool, see you there!” Taehyung waves, and only then do you realize he didn’t even bring a bag to class.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Jeon Jungkook,” you call. Not even bothering to knock and wait for a response, you stand in the living room of Jungkook, Hope, and Joon’s apartment, hands on your hips. “Jungkook!”

There is a cluttering, a thud, and then Jungkook appears, slamming into the wall opposite his bedroom door. He scrambles into the room on sock feet.

“What?” He calls back, eyes wild. “What’s happening? What’s wrong? Fire?” He grabs a bat from a coat closet. Huh, didn’t even know that was in there.

Bat posed over his head, you now take in the Jungkook that stands before you. White t-shirt, black boxers, two different socks, hair crazed. His eyes dart around the room, jaw clenched. You remain where you are, sass undeterred, but a smirk creeping onto your lips.

After a second longer, Jungkook realizes his appearance and yelps, falling onto the couch and grabbing a pillow to tuck into his lap. His tongue tucks into his cheek, a pout permanent as he stares ahead.

“What do you want?” He huffs, determining there is no real intruder other than your bad vibes.

“Do you know a Taehyung Kim?”

“Tae? Yeah, he’s in your class. Why?” Jungkook stretches out on the couch, searching for the remote. “Is that it?”

“Is that it?” You repeat, slouching into a chair. You run a hand over your face. “He interrupted my class to ask about you and Jimin!”

“And? Is that bad?” Jungkook’s eyes are already drooping again. He must have stayed up all night playing overwatch.

“Yes! I’m a TA, Jungkook. Remember? I gotta be a teacher in the classroom.” You argue.

“But Tae is like, our age. Haven’t you seen him around? He’s been at parties. I’ve pointed you out.”

You groan loudly, hands over your face. They just don’t get it, the fragile balance you have to maintain as a young teacher.

“What’s up? Was there a robber?” Hobi wanders down the hall with a bowl of cereal. Was this house running six hours behind the rest of the world?

“Jungkook is just threatening my honor as a reputable professor,” You moan.

A snort comes from Jungkook and your thankful for the small living room that allows you to reach out and kick his shoulder.

“C’mon, Kook,” Hope says, sitting on Jungkook’s feet. “Jin and she are our only successful friends, don’t ruin it.”

“I take offense!” Joon shouts from somewhere in the house. You all look around, unable to source the voice.

“So, what did he wanna say?” Kook asks as he flips through the food channels a second time. He’s curled up to avoid Hobi, pillow still tucked in his lap, Hobi’s arm using his hips as an armrest. They look incredibly cozy. This apartment is a giant snoozefest compared to you and Jin constantly running in and out of the house besides Yoongi being holed up in his room.

“If I was gonna be at the party at MY house,” You grumble. Hobi laughs out loud. “It would be nice if I knew my students were gonna show up in my residence. You know, seeing me drunk and shit.”

“Yeah, well, it would be nice if I could get my jacket back. Am I going to get my jacket back at that party?” Jungkook finally looks over, eyebrow cocked. You give a sheepish smile, realizing you coulda been polite enough to barge in with his jacket in hand.

“You going to your own party?” Hope keeps laughing.

“Ahahaha,” you mock, then look over at Jungkook. “Okay, fine. I know it’s been a few days. Jacket will be returned.” Jungkook bites his lip, and you’re unsure why he now looks regretful.

“Jungkook’s preparing for the big party,” Hope teases, trying to tickle Jungkook’s feet underneath him. You twist in your seat, full attention now on Kook.

“I… wanna try to talk to some girls at that party,” Jungkook says incredibly low, but you and Hobi both hear. “Tae said he’d wingman me. And Jimin. So, sorry, Noona, but he is coming.”

You and Hobi both look at each other. “What a shit combo,” Hobi says. You shrug in agreement, not knowing Tae but knowing Jimin may woo away any woman Jungkook may try to snag.

“The liquid courage and all,” Jungkook continues, trying to look disinterested as his jaw sets and his brows furrow.

“There are some serious lines of consent there, my dude,” you tut.

Jungkook sits up straight. “Regardless,” he says, eyes determined. “I’mma do it. I’mma…. I’mma do it.” When you look over, you realize he is talking to Hobi, not the TV anymore. Hope’s eyes flicker to you before he takes his turn to mess up Jungkook’s hair.

“You do it, dude,” Hobi winks back.

You are about to offer your own words of encouragement but are distracted by the buzzing in your pocket.

_Ji Eun_

_Coffee? Shopping? Both?_

You huff out another sigh. It was becoming difficult to hang out with both Ji Eun, In Na, and Hope’s sister now that the group was temporarily divided by the rift.

_You_

_Yeah, what time?_

“Who is it?” Hope asks, pulling his controllers from the box by the couch. You shove your phone back into your pocket.

“No one, but I gotta go,” the lack of finesse in your excuse made you wince. Jungkook seems to stare at his phone even harder than before, and Hope looks between you, Jungkook, and the phone.

Rolling his eyes, he shifts to his feet. “Okay, come on, athlete. Let’s get dressed and get you one of those protein shakes or whatever before your track practice.” He grabs Jungkook’s hand and hoists him to his feet. Jungkook gives a scrunched smile, excited for free food 

As they make their way to the door, you check your phone again.

_Ji Eun_

_Tomorrow? 3pm?_

Great, now you were in the other boys’ apartment with no one home. Sighing, you grab your bag, move to the kitchen island, and pull out your laptop.

About five minutes into work, you hear a thud and then the shuffling of feet. Looking up from your computer, you see Namjoon, teddy boxers, and the same bat raised above his head. He quickly drops it and grabs the same pillow Jungkook used earlier. “What the fuck, go home” he groans, wandering back into his room. You giggle to yourself and return to your paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 gives the girls some more "Screentime" and we get to the party from the very first scene of chapter 1!


	3. We Could Be Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few people need a little push. That's what friends are for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dundundun it's finally the scene from the beginning...

It was Jin’s idea to take one of Hope’s jazzercise classes. So Jin has no one to blame but himself for the reason you’re both waiting in the Student Health Center lounge, him sniffling from embarrassment rather than pain.

The cold atmosphere sends goosebumps up your legs as you sit in your sweaty gym clothes. Jin blocks you into the small corner of the second waiting room, a chair pulled up to reduce the swelling in his ankle.

“I’m the worst,” he pouts.

“You are not the worst,” you answer, flipping through a two-year-old _People_ magazine. “Okay, maybe the worst dancer, but I bet you could make this?” You flash the “3 Easy Meal Preps” page.

Jin scoffs. At least he still has his ego. “Hope looked so cool, leading that class, doing all those moves. I hate that mirror in there. It just kept showing me how much I sucked.”

“Jin,” you turn to look at him, placing a hand on his large shoulder. “You are smart, you are funny, and your cooking is the sole reason all of us have survived college this far. We’re all good at something, and your skill is at least useful during the apocalypse.” You pat his shoulder two more times when he tries to suck in his smile and maintain a pout.

“I like when you compliment me instead of harassing me,” He mutters, twiddling his thumbs.

“Don’t get used to it,” you retort, standing as the nurse makes her way over.

After figuring out Jin’s sprain, getting him patched up, and calling an Uber to drive you both less than a mile to the apartment, you manage to hike him up the stairs and throw him on the bed. Yoongi appeared momentarily to make fun of Jin himself while simultaneously bringing in one of his therapeutic pillows and throwing it at him.

Checking the clock, you realize you are supposed to be at the other house in a few minutes to help Kook with an English paper.

“Do you wanna come with?” you ask Jin, who is currently facedown on the bed, body sprawled out but leg cocked on Yoongi’s pillow to elevate his foot.

“No, let me wallow here in how embarrassing that experience was and that Hope even texted Yoongi about it,” he whines, rolling over with a large sigh.

“Okay, I’ll be back.”

“You’re really gonna leave me, you punk?” He shouts, propping himself up on his elbows and poking his good foot at you accusingly.

“What do you want me to do?” You call, still walking out the door to figure out what to wear.

“Nothing. GO have fun,” you hear him flop back on his bed as you pull a beanie from the closet and a face mask. “GO have fun with _all_ our friends while I’m trapped here.” You can imagine him shoving a pillow under his chin and having his own pouting fit. He’ll find something to do soon enough.

You critique your appearance in the mirror. The workout clothes will have to do, and the beanie along with Jungkook’s jacket conceal your post-workout drag enough. Even though it’s not much, it always felt weird running into your students when you weren’t at your best. This hid your appearance to some extent.

“First of all,” you start as you wander back into Jin’s room. He indeed has his head tucked into a pillow and gasps at your sudden reappearance, unable to see you. “Yoongi is still here. I’ll be back. I’ll cook you something since you can’t.”

You give him a thumbs up and his face falls even farther, remembering the last time you tried to make spaghetti and meatballs.

“Don’t come back, Yoongi can make me a garlic soaked dish,” Jin says.

“Good luck getting him out of his room,” you call out the door, shoving back into your running sneakers.

The walk across the residential district showed signs of Spring trying to break through the last cold snap of the semester. Though snow still sat snug in the corners of parking lots, the grass had a fresher hue of green and the trees didn’t seem quite as rigid in the cold. Nature attempts to thaw out against the freezing temperatures, and you wrap Jungkook’s jacket tighter around yourself as you throw sunglasses on against the crisp sunrays.

When Namjoon opens the door, your name comes out more as a question than an actual greeting. You pull down the sunglasses and wink back at him.

“All these fucking winks,” he grumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. “Living with Jin is really starting to wear off on you.” A giggle rises in your throat as you ponder the accuracy of that statement. All those breakfasts and dinners with just you two had also aided in your terrible sense of humor. “You look like a guy, too.”

“Is that a bad thing?” You quip, pulling the mask down and unzipping Jungkook’s jacket.

“No,” Namjoon answers quickly. “I mean not like that.” He rubs at his neck again. “I mean, you look good as a guy, too.”

“I’ll tell Jimin you are leaning a little left,” you tease as you pat Joon’s exposed shoulder. His tank top fell low and his golden skin contrasted with the bright yellow. His collarbone dipped and rounded into smooth curves down his bicep. “Been working out?”  Looked like Hobi was wearing off on him in turn.

“Really? Can you tell?” his dimples appear as he smiles down at his arms.

“Totally,” you nod. “Especially right here,” you say as you reach forward to pat at his chest. He folds inward, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Leave me alone and go find your kid,” he says, retreating back into his room. He had the room closest to the door, putting him on permanent welcome-duty. His voice drifts back through the doorway as you walk into the living room.

Stepping into the space, you feel your lips twist downward as your plans to stay disguised are foiled by your not-so-favorite student sitting cross-legged in front of the TV with Jungkook and Hope: Taehyung, lounging comfortably on the floor in what looked like silk pajamas, the only one to look up at your entrance. So much for the disguise; now you look shittier than before.

“Namjoon go back?” Hope sounds monotone, not even taking his eyes off the screen.

“I think if Yoongi and Joon lived together, we’d never see either of them,” you comment from the entryway.

“Nah, he’s gotta see the sun, unlike Yoongs,” Jungkook answers, also not looking up from the screen.

“Oh, is that why he lives with you?” You direct at Hope, and you are honestly surprised when you see Hope smirk when he hasn’t even looked at you.

“He’s back there with my sister giving her fashion advice,” he hums. When he pauses the game, both Jungkook and Tae groan in unison.

Without the game, Tae’s attention is on you. His eyes assess your appearance and you can’t help the defensive pose you take.

“Hey Kook,” he starts, leaning into him in a feigned whisper. “Is this called the girlfriend look?” He starts to laugh as Kook shoves him into Hobi, who also falls over.

“That’s the Noona look because she’s old,” Jimin’s voice calls from the kitchen, two slices of pizza on a plate. Tae and Hope laugh again and Jungkook folds his lips in to repress his own laugh.

“Thank you, Jimin,” you say wryly. “How are the wingmanning plans going?”

“You told her?” Tae looks over at Jungkook who shoots him with a glare. “I mean yeah, we are totally bout to get Kook hooked up.”

“Thanks for bringing my jacket back,” Kook cuts in. He holds his hand out. You slide the beanie from your head and shimmy out of the jacket, throwing it on the floor next to Kook.

“Oh, lookin’ good still,” Hope gives you a thumbs up even though he’d already seen you a few hours ago. “You sure you aren’t the reason Jin tripped?”

“Jin hurt himself? Is he okay?” You are startled out of your seat when you hear Ji Woo’s voice. She has two large, black folders under her arm. “Oh, we bought that outfit together! You, me, and Ji Eun have matching shorts!” She smiles back at you.

You try to smile despite the fact that Ji Woo just carelessly brought up she-who-must-not-be-named. “We still need to all go out and run together, twinsies,” you say, trying to be cute. Ji Woo is much girlier than you, and something about her presence makes you want to try as well.

“Aren’t you and Ji Eun going shopping this evening? I wish I could join for a girl’s trip,” she pouts as she puts on her coat. “I have to get back to the studio. Joon gave me a lot of great advice. Maybe I’ll stop by and see Jin though?” She says absentmindedly. You shrug. Ji Woo seems to think no one is aware of her crush.

“Bye guys!” She calls. Tae and Hope wave at Ji Wo, but Jungkook only looks up shyly and nods his head.

It’s still surprising that you and Jungkook are so close. His reaction to Ji Woo is typical when it comes to girls. Despite his incredible looks, he can’t manage to say more than a few words, constantly hung up on what he’s saying, how he’s acting, and being appropriate. It’s cute, but also a real deterrent when it comes to interacting with girls to the level that you have reached together. It would be nice if he could find someone outgoing, who wanted to take the time to bring him out of his shell as you had.

You take a pepperoni off one of the pizza slices Jimin had brought out, who tries to shield his look of disgust. “Ready to study, Kook?”

He lets out a large sigh and heaves himself off the floor. “Why couldn’t I know an English major who would just write the paper for me…” he complains as you walk back to his room.

You giggle, turning and plopping down on his bed. You wait for JUngkook to grab his laptop, but he just stares at you instead. You look down and remember you are pretty dirty. “Shit, sorry,” you bounce off the bed.

Jungkook seems to snap out of it. “Oh, no,” he grabs his computer and stands before you again. “Just… uh… sit back down…”

“Ok...ay?” You ask, plopping back on the bed. Clutching his laptop, Jungkook sits down next to you. Then, he scoots a little closer. You lean back against the wall, ready to work.

“Hey,” Jungkook starts, slowly opening his computer. “You know, I’m not a kid.” He stares straight ahead at his computer.

“Uh, yeah,” you say, a bit more serious now. “I’m aware.”

“Well,” Jungkook glances at you then back to finding his paper. “Just know, I’m okay. I’m over it. You don’t need to make that face whenever someone mentions Ji Eun. Really, I’m moving on,” he tells the computer more than you.

You lean forward to get a better look at him, his jaw clenched, the determined stare at his desktop making his eyes sparkle like stars. He somehow looks so small, so gentle, trying to prove it to you. It makes your heart swell.

“I’m not a baby,” he says, finally looking over at you. His Bambi eyes are set, bushy hair brushed over raised eyebrows.  You give a small smile before you wrap your arm around his shoulder, swinging him back to rest against the wall with you. “Whatever you say, baby. Let’s work on that English paper.”

* * *

 

Ji Eun talked about Jungkook more now that she was dating than any other time before. Not that you were complaining, but she tends to always ask how he is doing whenever you meet up.

“How are things with Inna?” you ask to change the subject, pilfering through a variety of tops all labeled” short sleeve blouse”. Pulling out a tank top and a business blouse, you wonder how anyone finds anything in thrift stores.

Ji Eun gives a little giggle, covering her face with whatever skirt she was considering. “We are great. She’s the best. I knew that before, you know? We’ve been friends for a while, but… well… you know… She just gets me. ANd I get her. It’s crazy, like magic.” She continues to fade in and out of mumbling to herself and asking for your affirmations as you both pilfer through the racks.

Seeing Ji Eun so happy is nice. It never bothered you that you once liked her. She was too cutesy and surprisingly passive. Though, you should have known since she never ever brought up Jungkook’s feelings to his face.

“This!” You startle when Ji Eun shouts from two rows over. “You have to wear this tomorrow night.” She holds up what looks to be a black crop top. A blush grows on your cheeks, a little taken aback by what it may look like for your mid-drift.

“I really don’t know, Ji Eun, it’s not my style,” you ponder as you wander over.

She huffs at your hesitancy. “You have no style. I’ve known you four years, it’s always changing. And hanging with those boys had made you so lax.”

“Jungkook would have a hernia if I showed up in this,” you laugh.

Ji Eun pops an eyebrow up. “So you wanna wear it for Jungkook, then?” You stop laughing, fixing her with a look. You take the shirt from her and assess it. Luckily, you are wearing high waisted jeans so it wouldn’t be too bad for your self-confidence to try it on. “Fine, but if I don’t feel comfortable, I’m not buying it.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll buy it then,” Ji Eun hums, already back in another rack of clothes. “Oh my gosh, this, too, this, too!” She calls, throwing three more things in your hand. Seeing the “$5” sign above the rack, you think it can’t hurt and wander back to the dressing room.

As much as it pains you, Ji Eun knows what would look good on you, even if it isn’t your look. The black shirt fit nicely and fell just above your jeans, showing off your figure but still modest enough to make you feel comfortable.

She starts messing with your hair, talking about your collar bones, before subtly sliding in for the third time, “So, how IS Jungkook?”

You turn around, batting her hands from your hair. “What’s with you asking about him so much? Are you having regrets?” You tease.

Ji Eun rolls her eyes. “I’m just… curious. Ji Woo was there today and said… he seems to be over his melodramatic dejection.” You rarely hear Ji Eun say anything negative about anyone, so her classifying of Jungkook’s last two months takes you off guard.

“Uh, you could say he is, he told me so today as well. Apparently, I’m being a mom,” you say, trying to resituate your hair in the aisle mirror.

“Maybe you should stop being a mom and stop being single,” Ji Eun mutters. You turn around, and she gives you an innocent face.

“I’m just saying,” she starts, “you know, I always thought it was weird how those boys are always together. I mean, people get along with their roommates, but they don’t usually _only hang out with them_. And then there’s you. Like your own little harem.”

You shrug, picking up two shirts that you don’t even like. “I mean, we all mesh well. They add people every now and again, like you and me. Now there’s my student and Jimin.”

“Literally, the way you say it sounds like a cult. That’s exactly what In Na said Ji Woo calls it, too.”

“Literally,” you mimic, throwing your hand out to the side, “Ji Woo is just jealous that I’m closer to Jin than she is.”

Ji Eun giggles, “I know, isn’t that ridiculous? Ji Woo was super pissed after she hung out with Namjoon yesterday, too…”

“Why?” You ask. She’d talked to you fine, but she had seemed a little rushed. You were too busy thinking about how everything she said might jab at Kook’s heart.

Ji Eun blinks at you then busies herself with clothes. “Nothing, nothing. I think Namjoon and her fashion sense differed and she just wanted to bitch about it.”

“That’s completely unrelated to being mad about Jin.”

“What’s unrelated is this whole conversation, now this,” Ji Eun pulls the black crop-top from your hands as you try to put it back on the rack, “is relevant to you.” She shoves it back in your direction.

You go to put it back on the rack. “These things don’t look good on me.”

“Oh, and why is that?” the edge in Ji Eun’s tone lets you know what’s coming. “Because your stomach is pudgy or you aren’t my size or it doesn’t fit your style or no one likes you anyways blahblahblah?”

You stand at the edge of your wrack, jaw dropped. “Wow, harsh much?”

“Those are your own, annoying, repetitive words, hunbun,” Ji Eun says, hand on her hip. “You are beautiful. We tell you all the time. You don’t realize how attractive you are with five boys fawning over you.”

“Two of them are busy fawning over each other…” you grumble more to yourself, staring at the shirt in your hand on top of your more modest choices.

“Regardless, wear the shirt tomorrow, look hot. Treat yo'self,” Ji Eun snaps along to her last statement and you stifle a giggle.

“Did In Na teach you that? Where is she by the way?” You ask, making your way to the checkout counter. No one in the store seems to mind you and Ji Eun carrying on your conversation halfway across the store from each other.

“Busy,” you can hear the pout in Ji Eun’s voice. “I forget that I’m like, internet famous, but she is like, actually acting. She is busy tomorrow too. I’ll be your wingman tomorrow.”

“How can I have a wingman who is hotter than me?” You exasperate, throwing one or two choices in a “no” pile.

“I can’t listen to Ji Woo talk about fashion, I’d rather hook you up and get some free alcohol!”

You shove her a bit. “That’s alcohol I’ve paid for, you know…”

But Ji Eun is distracted. “Plus, I need to see the looks on their faces when they see you in _that_.” Your cheeks get hotter as Ji Eun gives you an approving up-down. You tug at the edges of the shirt you wear now, which pales in comparison to what she has you buying.

“I really don’t think it’s necessary. It’s just the guys. I wanna be comfortable.”

“You should feel comfortable being hot. We’re buying it,” Ji Eun puts her hand out before you can speak again. “Or else I am buying it, and won’t let you stay at my house to pretend you don’t live there for that student or whatever.”

“Fine, deal.”

* * *

 

You, Ji Eun, and Ji Woo walk up the steps to your own apartment on Friday around 10pm. Really, there is no reason to fake not living there because Taehyung would never know, but it was nice to hang out with the girls again. You’d spent over an hour getting ready, mostly because you all kept pausing to lay around the living room on your phones or listening to music. So here you are, the trio, marching to your own door which you swing open.

The air is thick. About 20 people already fill your living room and kitchen as you maneuver your way through the crowds. A light layer of smoke from vapes and outside cigarettes sifts through the air, the strong smell of cheap beer mixing in.

“Hey!” Jin’s voice booms out from the back of the apartment. He wobbles over in a lumpy cardigan. “Wow, Ji eun, it’s nice to see you in here again.” He sends her a bright smile and she returns it. Ji Woo smiles next to her, refusing to ask for a hello but also not concealing how desperately she wants one from Jin.

But Jin straightens up, grabbing the edges of his cardigan. “Ladies, could I offer you…” He rips open the cardigan, and there are little tiny bottles of Bacardi taped up inside, “...something from my _bacardigan_?” Ji Woo practically falls over laughing while you and Ji Eun give each other a side glance. Jin is already rolling at his own joke, no doubt the tenth time he’s told it tonight. All three of you pull a bottle, pop it open, and take it in one go.

“Hey Jin,” Ji Eun says, staring straight at you. “This girl here also has something fun on.” You glare at Ji Eun, balling your fists in the jacket you had insisted on wearing. Ji Woo stops laughing to give a nervous smile when Jin cocks his head.

“Oh?” Jin saddles up beside you. “What is it? What is it?”

“Yeah, Ji Eun says you bought something cute. Show me!” Ji Woo says innocently, though you know she already has to know.

With a huff, you shrug out of your jacket and throw it into the side closet. You turn around, throwing your hands to the side in a “tada”.

Jin’s ears are beet red even in the dimly lit apartment. “O...oh. Oh, woah.” He says. He instinctively reaches up to cover his ears. Ji Woo laughs but takes a tentative step closer to Jin. You feel a little uncomfortable stealing his attention from her.

“Are you singing a song or what?” You ask, crossing your arms to try and cover a bit of your mid-drift. But Ji Eun catches your arm and pulls you to her side. “I feel weird.”

“Woah!” Hope’s high pitched surprise comes from nearby. “What fish you tryna catch?” Unlike Jin, Hope saddles right up and wraps his arm around your shoulders. “Bowchicka…”

“Okay, yes, I know, new me, very exciting, I am going to get a beer,” you deflect, heading into the kitchen. The heat in your cheeks is definitely the Bacardi, nothing else.

Joon, Kook, and Tae are standing in the kitchen. You immediately wrap your hands around your waist and duck into the fridge. When you look back up, there’s an array of faces staring at you.

“Professor?” Tae calls, but there’s a lilt in his voice.

“Oh hi, Taehyung,” you try to say as casually as possible.

“You look like someone I know,” Jungkook says, but his face looks more like he saw a ghost.

“You look like one of those computer hackers in a cybersecurity ad,” you fire back. His large black sweater swamps his figure, black jeans extending down long legs to tuck into combat boots.

“Oh my god,” Joon nudges Kook. “It really is her. She’s showing… skin.”

“Are you sick?” Kook asks.

“You’re about to be,” you fake a punch at Kook and turn back out.

“Woah,” you hear the three boys say. You can’t help the smile that twitches at your mouth as you wander back into the party, searching out the couch. It _is_ a little nice to be noticed, to know you can pull off the look. The living room is already cramped, so you wander down the hall to Yoongi’s room.

“Sup,” you say.

“Sup,” Yoongi says back, on his computer. He doesn’t even give you a second glance. At least something is normal.

“Hope is here, why are you back here?” You ask, sitting down on his bed. Yoongi continues to stare straight at his computer, lips pressed together, mindlessly dragging sound bytes to and fro.

“Hope is already busy, so I’m finishing work,” the pout is audible in Yoongi’s voice. You realize he’s a bit more hunched over than usual.

“He didn’t seem busy to me,” you say, falling back on Yoongi’s bed. The large comforter engulfs your head and you can barely hear Yoongi respond over the rustling.

“Well, he’s _busy_ bringing Jimin. So I’m busy working,” Yoongi grumbles. You stifle a giggle.

“I’m sorry, are you telling me you’re upset Hope may have brought Jimin as a date?” You ask innocently. “Could you repeat that?” You prop back up on your elbows. Yoongi glances over, his eyes slitted in a glare. You swing your head side to side, egging him to say it. He’s never admitted it. His mouth opens a bit, but then he snaps his jaw shut.

“Shut up. You already know,” Yoongi says instead before putting his headphones back over his ears.

“What do I know? I don’t know anything,” You drift on over to Yoongi and look at all the music charts on his screen.

He scoffs. “That’s for sure.” And he closes everything, turning in the chair. It’s only then that he raises his eyebrows. ”Who you tryna fuck?”

“Ji Eun dressed me!” You whined, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

“Well it’s obvious you wouldn’t choose that,” his eyes just skate over the outfit, completely uninterested, and it makes you a little too aware of how the others’ eyes had looked. You do appreciate how Yoongi’s comment means he thinks he knows you. Despite his aloofness, you tend to get along pretty well. Suddenly, Yoongi smirks. “Seen Kook?”

“Yeah, why?” You try and pull Yoongi out of his chair and he begrudgingly follows you out of his room. You shove your beer into his hands and go to grab another.

“Just wondering,” Yoongi shrugs, smirk still on his face. And as you round the corner, he lets out a whistle. “The cops better not show tonight.”

The amount of people seems to have doubled once the clock hit 11pm. There are crowds standing here or there, and you glance down the hall to ensure you and Jin’s bedrooms still have closed and locked doors. Because Jin already seems to be halfway through his bacardigan. He’s thankfully found a seat somewhere, and Ji Woo is reminding him to elevate his sprain.

You chat with Ji Eun and Ji Woo, the boys, and some strangers. Eventually, you’re staked out on the edge of the couch, waiting for a seat to open up. Jungkook and Tae are sitting with some friends, laughing loudly.

“I think they named it marketing because everyone in it is named “Mark”,” Namjoon sighs next to you. When you glance over, his eyes immediately shoot back up to your face. His beer is half empty, but the amount of condensation looks like he’s been slowing down. Either way, his face is pasted with a sloppy smile. You tilt your head in his direction before taking a sip. “They keep calling me Name-joo.”

You practically snort your beer through your nose, jostling away from spraying any of the people bumping into you. “That’s amazing.” You giggle and Namjoon starts to laugh, too. When the giggles die down, you both stand there leaning against the couch, watching the people shouting in front of you.

“So, that top,” Namjoon starts.

“Please,” you roll your eyes. “It’s just something Ji Eun forced me to buy. If I’d known everyone would react this way, I’d keep my bag lady jacket on.”

“That’s a very accurate description, bag lady. Maybe I should change your nickname,” Namjoon hums. He shakes his beer. “You need another?”

“I’ll get it myself,” you shove off the couch and start to pick your way through the living room seat. Standing on the other side are Hope and Jimin. You squint in assessment as you draw nearer.

“I hear you two came together,” you say, grabbing onto Hope for support against the clumsiness coming from your slight buzz. He smiles and Jimin gives you a small nod, hands playing with Hope’s sleeve.

“Yep, we did indeed,” Hope says innocently, but the force of his smile gives him away. His eyes dart over your shoulder.

“What game are you playing at?” You ask, glancing over towards Yoongi looking grouchy in the kitchen. You realize it’s the same direction Hope just looked.

“Whatever do you mean?” Jimin pipes up instead, coming in closer to Hope. Hope gives him a smile but already looks a bit uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to hear about woeful ignorance from you,” Hope teases, eyebrows raised.

“What is that supposed to mean?” You counter.

“Oh, really? Are you serious?” Hope’s eyebrows raise even higher, and he looks over your shoulder. Before you can respond, Hope moves to face you. “Guess you literally need a little push.”

He shoves you then, and your uncoordinated feet trip on someone on the floor. You find yourself crashing onto the couch.

Which is coincidentally occupied by Jungkook and Taehyung.

In a start, you try to shift away from Taehyung as quickly as possible, straddling your legs over Jungkook’s thick thighs. When you look down to apologize, you are caught off guard by the deep red flush covering Jungkook’s face, as his arms come up to steady you. His hands are firm on your hips. You brace your hands on his shoulders and watch his Adam's apple bob in his throat.

Oh.

You had never planned to be wrapped up in Jungkook’s arms, straddling him on your living room sofa. You especially didn’t expect all your friends to be present, hooting and hollering. You’d actually planned for someone else to be in this very position. You’d wanted to be the one hooting and hollering. Yet, you could definitely feel your bare legs sinking into the old leather, feeling scratchy against the rips in Jungkook’s jeans. And it was definitely his arm, palm splayed out on your back, supporting you there.

Yet, staring down into his big, Bambi eyes, you begin to realize how you got here, and that it was absolutely inevitable that your arms would be wrapped around his neck, fingers threading through his hair in distraction.

“Hey,” he stutters out, eyes flickering between yours. That usual warmth in his eyes stirs with something you never saw when Jungkook looked at you- shyness.

“Hey,” you whisper back. Now you understood. The comments, the side banter. Even in your clouded mind, you made the connection.

Jungkook had been looking at you.

His Adam's apple bobs again, and everyone seems to have already turned back to their party. That or the sudden realization had your heart racing so fast that you can’t seem to hear anything else.

His hands wander from where they held your thighs, down to your knees and back up again. A gentle stroke, a coaxing. Your face is craning down, getting a closer look at these new eyes. And as you get closer, the fear in them clouds over even more. You can’t help the slight smile on your lips at how endearing he looks. Jungkook’s own lips part, his buck teeth showing through. His breath ghosts across your face, hot and sticky.

He looks so boyish, so tiny, despite the thick, massive thighs under your hips. His neck and ears turn redder and redder the longer you search his eyes, and you feel his fingers start to dig into your skin. You can’t contain your giggles, and see Jungkook’s confusion before his own lips begin to twitch. You try to keep it together, but the drunken haze has the nervous giggles rising in your throat as you realize exactly what is happening. Your head falls onto his shoulder as you both start to shake with giggles.

“Jungkook,” you mutter, trying to keep it low. “Do you… are you really…”

“Um,” the word comes out murky, drunk. “Um, yes and no and…. You know what nevermind.” His arms move from your hips to wrap around your shoulders, the air dissipating back into the cloudy, hot air of the party. The sounds from around you crash back in again as the rushing in your ears subsides. You wrap your arm around his shoulders again, trying to curb the awkwardness. You try to play it off as a gentle hug, only your shoulders touching as you pull him in.

“Okay then... Imma get my beer,” you give a tight smile then hop off his lap. Namjoon stares at you two, expression unclear, as you march into the kitchen. In your peripheral, you see Taehyung’s confused expression as he leans in to whisper in Kook’s ear, who is shaking his head rapidly.

The kitchen is significantly quieter when you stumble in, heart racing again but with something else.

“Oh heyyy~” Hope greets, Jimin still by his side. Yoongi is on his phone, doing a very bad job of trying to ignore the world. Or his world, only a few feet away, giving someone else attention. You tuck yourself between him and the fridge before crouching to the floor, face covered.

“What was that?” You groan out. The mortification of what almost happened in your drunken haze becomes quite sobering. “Did he? Does he??”

“Oh, so it happened? Wow, great wingmanning, Jimin,” Hope gives Jimin a high five who lets out a small huff of accomplishment.

“Is that what you meant by a shove?” You whisper shriek. “You all knew??”

Hope shrugs. “He got the idea and we thought why not. And then you showed up looking like that….” Hope looks you up and down with a wink. Ji Eun’s constant commentary about Jungkook, asking how he is, asking who she was dressing for, come rushing back. You’d been set up.

“Oh my god, no. No. That’s not why! Does he really have feelings for me?” You swing the door of the fridge open and press your face into the ice bucket door. So much needs to be sorted out, but all you can do is grab a beer and down half of it. This seems to finally get Yoongi’s attention, who stares on in parental concern.

“I mean I don’t know, talk to him. Jesus,” Jimin immediately sounds sassy with you again.

“Or maybe, since it’s, like, 1 am in the morning…” Yoongi pipes up. “You should go to sleep before drunk-you makes any terrible decisions.”

You are about to retort to Yoongi not to argue with everything Jimin says just because Hope is using him to annoy him, but it isn’t a bad idea. You really didn’t want to deal with… whatever has just happened. Or why it just happened. Or how you actually felt about what happened.

“Fine,” you sigh. You find and bid goodbye to Ji Eun and Ji Woo. It isn’t hard to find them, because they are grabbing you by the arms and squealing. Well, Ji Woo’s grip feels more like claws.

“What happened? What happened? Why did you get up?” Ji Eun rushes out.

“What? I just… nothing happened. Nothing _will_ happen,” you clarify. Now that you knew the time, your body seemed to realize you are usually asleep hours before now.

“Why?” Ji Woo speaks, her eyes looking a little too hardened.

“I don’t… I don’t like Jungkook like that,” you stammer out. Yoongi’s idea to forget about everything for tonight is sounding better and better.

“Are you sure?” Ji Eun seems unconvinced. “I mean, are you _sure_?” Her own questioning makes you question yourself. She’d already pointed out twice today two times Jungkook had been your focus. You had been worrying about him for weeks, but was it really out of concern?

You shake your head. “No, no, I’ll figure it out. Thanks for coming, and sneaking back to my room.”

“Want us to come?” Ji Woo’s grip softens. You shake your head again, hug them both, and start for the back hall. Making sure no one is watching, you sneak into your room and lock it behind you.

Flopping onto your bed, you immediately prop yourself up from the spinning. But rather than the alcohol, it seems to be the chaos of your thoughts. For the first time, you realize how warm your ears feel. You reach up to grab them as you think.

Jungkook.

Jungkook is one of your best friends. They all are. And it’s been that way for almost over a year now. Jungkook’s focus on Ji Eun had made it easy to ignore anything else… but had you ignored your own feelings?

No.

No, that’s not true. Thinking long and hard with a somewhat-clear head, you know you don’t like Jungkook. The moment before had been rushed but never before had you thought that way about one of the boys. Jungkook is like your little brother. He’s…

A knock sounds at the door. You roll over, hoping someone didn’t see you come in and thinks it’s a pot-smoking room or something. But the knock comes louder. “Hey, um…” you hear Jungkook’s voice awkwardly squeeze through.

Heaving off the bed, you open the door. He stands there, both hands holding a beer close to his chest, hair disheveled, and eyes wide. You look him up and down, considering. But, all you feel is fondness. Protective instincts. And the thought brings a warm smile to your face.

“Yeah?” you ask.

“Can we…” he rubs the back of his neck. “I’m tired.” He settles with. You giggle.

“Come on,” you say with a wave of your hand. You flop back onto your bed, and a few moments later, the bed dips as Jungkook curls up beside you, head on your arm. You overanalyze the sensation. It’s heavy, the hair from his undercut prickling your skin, and his mouth close to your skin. But all it is is comforting, warm. Safe.

“Jungkook,” you start. He stops breathing, an arm reaching over your waist to anchor himself. “We need to talk about this.” You chew on your lip. It needs to be said. Whether his feelings are real or not, he needs to know where you stand so you can move on from this.

Jungkook’s arms grip you tighter. You monitor your heart, and it doesn’t make a jump, just the increased nervous thumping from the impending conversation.

“Tomorrow,” he mumbles, snuggling closer. “Can we just talk tomorrow?”

You wrap your arm over his shoulder and take a big deep breath, alcohol feeling heavy on your lids.  Yoongi is right. Tomorrow.

“Tomorrow,” You agree, sleep quickly overtaking you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for what happens next! Come tell me how you should feel on Tumblr at JoopiterJoon!


	4. Friends of Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After last night, you and Jungkook talk about what happened. The gang also goes on a few adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I moved AND I was sick... no excuses. Because of that, this chapter slowly got longer and longer...

Everything is quiet in the apartment, in your room, except for the soft rustling of Jungkook scooting closer. Everyone had been gone for a bit now, the crew of you that were still awake putting off the cleanup until tomorrow. With the sanctity of your bedroom remaining unscathed from drunk hookups, your arm lays outstretched next to you.

Jungkook takes a deep breath, undoubtedly staring at the ceiling you currently have your eyes trained on, double checking that it is indeed not spinning. Stretching his arms out, he pauses when his arm grazes yours. Instead of rolling away, he moves again to use you as leverage to pull his feet up onto the bed from where he slid off at some point. Both his shoes are peeled off and thud on the floor. In your cloudy haze of sleep and Bacardi, the sound reminds you to shimmy off your own toe-to-heel.

Jungkook continues to roll over and rests his head on your shoulder. The arm he throws over your stomach makes your abs tense up under the proximity, the weight.

“Noona,” the word wafts into your ear and the smell of alcohol onto your lips. In your own drunken stupor, you smile affectionately to the ceiling and hum in response. Little Jungkook running around shouting “Noona” in Korea was probably adorable.

“Thank you,” he follows as he tightens the arm draped over your waist. “I’m glad I have Noona.” The words are soft, and Jungkook feels surprisingly small for his size. With him snug at your side and the shyness in his voice, you really do feel like an older sister.

Eyes still closed, you turn your head to the side and place a kiss to the top of his hair. The smallest smile pulls at the corner of your lips when Jungkook’s breath hitches. After a pause, his other hand snakes under your waist to fully embrace you in his arms. You were pretty sure you had already fallen asleep in a similar position. Had he gotten up at some point?

“Anytime, kid,” you mutter and face the ceiling again. Jungkook nods once, mumbling “don’t call me kid.” You both drift back into a drunken sleep.

* * *

 

“DELETE IT!” The words are an unpleasant realization that you are more hungover than you thought. A ruckus seems to be occurring in your room. Your room. On your morning off. At, Christ, 9 am in the morning?

You roll over just in time to protect yourself from Jin who is being launched in your direction. “Guys!” You try and shout, only to grasp your head and soothe your aching brain. Your skull expands and shrinks with each beat of your heart, threatening to crack open.

“What is worth yelling about so early in the morning?”

“Ah, sorry N--, I mean--”

“Oh, NOOOONA? Is she your NOOOONA? You SURRRRE?” Jin mocks Jungkook, swinging the phone through the air like a paper airplane dodging Jungkook’s persistent swings. You duck under the covers as the two writhe around inches from you before taking your chance to snag the phone out of Jin’s hands. Now Jungkook lunges toward you.

“No please!” He cries, suffocating Jin with his own body to reach you. But you swiftly duck under the covers and open the screen. As you realize what it’s a picture of, silence falls outside of the covers. You’re unsure what to say.

In front of you is a picture of Jungkook, one arm still draped over you, tucked into your shoulder and gazing up at you. Granted, you look pretty good for a drunken, restless night. Even from the doorway, it’s clear Jungkook is peering up at you or somewhere on you. Realizing he’d been staring at you, a slight pink comes to your cheeks. Maybe the heat under the blanket.

You flip back the covers. “Jungkook, are you a pervert?” You accuse with a smirk, showing him the phone. He freezes, rolling off of Jin. His face turns even redder. He covers his face and groans.

“No! That’s not-- I mean I was just--”

“That’s not-- no I was just--” Jin mocks before you elbow his shoulder.

“Jin, are you a pervert, too?” you continue with unmasked agitation. Jin feigns complete shock.

"What? Why me?”

" You have a picture of me and Jungkook in bed. Why were you taking photographs of me sleeping?” Pulling up the sheet to your eyes, you raise your eyebrows in fear. “Am I even safe here?”

“Oh my god, stop!” Jin groans, rolling his eyes. “That takes all the fun out of it! I was just making fun of Jungkook, as he--”

“Just admired you,” Jungkook cuts in, tucking his fists in between his legs. He swivels to the edge of the bed, tongue in cheek.

“Yeah, admiring you,” Jin giggles. You kick at him underneath the covers. He gives you a look, and you give one right back. You tilt your chin and dart your eyes over to Jungkook, meaning  _ get out _ . Jin’s expression softens then, heaving a large sigh as he pulls himself off the bed.

Once he’s gone, you reach your foot from under the covers to poke at Jungkook. “Yah, we need to talk.”

“Did you just ‘yah’? Like Yoongi?” Jungkook says, grabbing your foot. When he looks down at it, he flinches and drops it.

You just out your bottom lip, chewing on the inside. He seems overly aware of the personal space he so easily invaded last night. He catches your worried expression and gives a large, nervous grin.

“Hey, we need to talk,” you start again, sitting up straighter. “About this photo…”

“Noona, I promise!” Jungkook says, then stutters over his words. You face him expectantly while his hands flail in an effort to mold his thoughts. “Really, after last night, when you were in my…. My lap… there is really nothing. I just, I really treasure you-“ Jungkook ruffles his shoulders in a shudder, “-god that sounds dumb- as like, a girl in my life who can help me with girls and you’re just so cool and I was thinking about how it would be cool if the two cool people I know. And even Nam-” Jungkook’s mouth clamps up. He doesn’t speak again and you wonder if his tongue actually knotted inside his mouth.

“Go on, it’s okay,” you encourage. He’s finally gushing. Jungkook had done a lot of feelings lately. A surprising amount for someone who only ever felt competitiveness and unrequited love. Granted, none of it is making sense.

You sit patiently, not wanting to encourage or discourage him. He begins again, slower, hands laying defeated in his lap. “We just talk about you and I think I tried to convince myself that… I just thought… I mean… I thought it should be with someone special. Kissing someone, getting back into things after such a long time… with someone I liked, and someone who likes me…” Jungkook shakes his head, running a hand through his hair and heaving his shoulders up. “I can’t. It would be my first kiss and... and I thought it would be okay because you’re Noona but...” He looks up, eyes determined with scrunched eyebrows. You roll your lips in to avoid smiling at the large boy perched on your bed, cross-legged with such a determined face.

Jungkook takes a deep breath and turns around. “I just… I think you are great. Even if it’s cheesy. And you’ve taken care of all of us at some point. And, I mean this is so cheesy. But yeah. It’s not romantic or anything, I promise.”

He finally calms down. You, for the most part, are surprisingly lacking in words to say. You reach out and touch his cheek. He closes his eyes, finding the comfort you intended.

“And I mean, your special.” Your smile falters a bit as your cheeks grow hot again. A lot of heat flashes in your room this morning.  Remembering the way his heart had raced. Trying not to remember how yours had when his large hands felt firm on your back, keeping you from tipping over last night. “But… I just want you to know you don’t gotta reject me. I don’t think I wanted it in general. You’re safe, you’re special, but it’s not like that. But imma find someone I want that with.” Now, his jaw sets and eyebrows draw close. He is trying to appear serious, but his wide eyes dampen the effect. “And I can’t come between…” Jungkook takes your hand in his and studies it. “I don’t know, stuff.”

You let out the breath you’ve been holding, and Kook’s shoulders seem to sag with yours. “It’s okay, honey,” the pet name sounds so natural, “don’t rush yourself. Sure, some of us got game, but look at Yoongi.” Jungkook laughs. “You’re two piners in a pod.”

“Wow, Jin IS wearing off on you,” Jungkook scoffs.

You give him a side eye, crossing your free arm over your chest. Jungkook keeps his gaze but starts pushing at your fingers while you size him up. “But you promise this is nothing more?”

Seeing how silly your scrunched glare looks, another sheepish smile spreads on Jungkook’s face. He links your pinkies together in his lap. “Promise. You’re Noona. JUST NOONA!” He shouts over his shoulder without looking away, because you both know Jin is still at the door.

“That was disgustingly cute, please go back to manipulative feminism and bro-hood,” Jin waves a hand into the doorway as he walks away. You and Jungkook giggle, and you start to get out of the bed.

“I’m proud of you. I mean, I don’t enjoy being a prop in your little scheme,” his eyes bug to correct you, “but I understand why, and I’m honored you think of me that way. I’m not gonna reject you, and it doesn’t have to be weird.” You twist your hand into a large cheek pinch, watching the way his back teeth show when you pull. “Keep on keepin’ on, champ. We’re all good.” You pat his cheek then roll back over to slide off the bed. You rub both temples, hangover undeterred by your morning confessions. “Imma go check on the living room situation, and delete that picture on Jin’s phone.”

“Good luck trying,” Jungkook huffs, ears finally not a burning red as he scoffs again.

“Oh, I have my ways,” you elude in the doorway.

“Can I go back to bed?” Jungkook asks, already kicking his shoes off and pulling his hoodie over his head. A slight glimpse of abs and strong biceps before his babyface pops out from under the hoodie.

“Can I have your hoodie?” you ask, realizing you’re still in last night’s attire. The breeze on your mid-drift feels even more uncomfortable in the hyper-awareness of dehydration. Jungkook chucks the hoodie and rolls over to sleep.

You wander into the kitchen, fighting your hair without being quite aware of its condition. The apartment is cleaner than you expected. The furniture still stands in disarray, adjusted to better suit the small groups that always divide off throughout the night. The kitchen table became the collective dirty dishes drop-off. But any spills, stray cups, and messes had been cleared away.

You check the clock, expecting it to be late, but it reads 9:30 am. Everyone got up early and hungry. A quick survey of the open space revealed no one sleeping on the couch, just Jin lounging. Namjoon sits at the island by himself digging into a bowl of cereal. He eyes the sweater and gives you an up-down, maybe letting you know it’s quite obvious you passed out last night.

“Good morning,” you hum, opening the fridge to search for bacon. There’s not much to search through. A couple of tupperware containers of Jin’s, condiments, all beer generously cleared out by last night’s guests. “A homage to graduate grandeur,” you tell yourself.

“Good morning,” Namjoon says. His voice sounds flat from his own hangover. “I take it things went well with Jungkook?”

Your heart sinks because bacon is nowhere in sight. You turn and lean against the fridge. “What?” you ask again.

“Jungkook’s hoodie. Jungkook in your room,” Namjoon lists out between bites of cereal. How on earth is he stomaching dairy? “I take it things went well.”

“Huh?” You ask again. Namjoon sets his spoon on the counter, unwilling to repeat himself for the third time. “No I mean, you couldn’t hear us this morning? That’s not a thing.” You shake your head. “No thanks to all of you,” you scold.

“What do you mean?” Namjoon asks, looking innocently at the back of Jin’s head on the couch and back at you.

“I mean that you collectively conspired to push him to do it,” you explain. “He even brought your name up.” Namjoon’s spoon sputters out on the way to his mouth.

A strange laugh comes from him, and Jin glances over the sofa at the sound. “Crazy kid, so what did he say about me specifically?”

“That you’re all group conspirators lobbying to get him laid one way or another,” you gripe.

Namjoon somehow seems relieved at your complaint. “Sorry, new girl, that’s what happens when there’s no one else around. Jimin and Taehyung seemed to already be moving on to phase two by the time the night was over.”

“Good, this is more fun when I get to be a part of the planning rather than the plan,” you sigh.

“Speaking of previous conspiring, you ruined our gimmick, by the way,” Joon grumbles through a mouth full of cereal.

“Our what?”

“Jimin sauntered on over after Yoongi and Hope got busy exchanging pouty faces and accused me of faking a relationship with you at the bar,” he says.

You scoff. “That was hardly faking a relationship.”

You look to the couch and see Jin still watching your conversation. You wander on over, plopping down on the opposite side and kicking your legs over his own. He drapes his arms over your legs, settling farther back into the seat. He’s the comfiest person to sit with on the couch, even though he’s the biggest.

“Hey,” you say, fluttering your legs. He fidgets again, grabbing at your shins to hold them still. “Give me your phone.”

Jin gives an incredulous expression, scrunching his lips and shaking his head. “Why? I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“I’ll show you what I’m talking about,” you said, raising your arms.

“Your threats are baseless,” he raises his nose, “I’ll just take away food.”

“I’ll take away your innocence,” you say, wiggling your fingers.

He reaches for his phone, but he grabs at your legs to keep you in place.

“Remind me to lock my door,” he grits while he’s fighting your legs. You reach for the edge of his phone sticking out of his pajama pants. Jin yelps as you lunge at him for the second time that day, and he drops both your legs. Then, you curl in on yourself when he tries to get the phone back. But you know he won’t go too far, curled up on the opposite side.

“You two are so weird,” Namjoon grumbles from the kitchen.

“Here I thought you wanted to have a comfortable morning, instead it’s comfort-dis-abled,” Jin sighs, crossing his arms.

You send him a side eye as you send the picture of you and Jungkook to yourself. You really do look cute together. “That was a stretch,” you insult Jin. Jungkook’s mouth is open and his cheek puffs up against your shoulder. After sending it to yourself, you delete your chat log with Jin and the picture, erasing any evidence.

You toss the phone back over to him and resituate yourself, legs stretched over his lap again.

Jin pouts at his phone, then his face turns red. “You deleted it?” he guffaws.

“Jungkook asked you to,” you shrug.

“Not that!” Jin flashes his chat history at you. “You deleted our messages!”

You look at him, shuffling the pillow under you. “Uh, yeah, the evidence. I wanted the picture.”

Jin lets out a whine.

“He cherished all your precious insults,” Namjoon calls from the kitchen.

“We had some good puns…” Jin grumbles, pouting at his phone. You laugh but feel a little bad. He appears genuinely upset, thick eyebrows slanted towards his shaggy hair line.

“Sorry, we can start a new list,” you say, jabbing your foot into his inner thigh. He grabs your toes suddenly, shoving your leg a bit farther down his lap. Maybe he  _ is _ genuinely upset.

You are interrupted by the sound of Yoongi’s slippers shuffling down the hall. His waddle had a distinct scratching sound. He refused to buy new slippers even after he’d worn that pair outside and scratched them up.

“Hey,” he said, leaning against the doorway.

“What’s up?” Namjoon asks.

“Is Hope here?”

“Nah, he went home last night,” Namjoon answered. You blushed, not knowing how the party had ended.

“With Jimin?”

“Thing 1 and Thing 2 went home?” You ask.

“You mean Wing 1 and Wing 2,” Jin corrects. You snicker.

“They left at the same time. Why, did you not talk?” Namjoon continues.

“We did.”

The three of you waited for Yoongi to elaborate, but he didn’t.

“And?” Jin prompted, taking your feet off his lap and leaning forward.

“I…” Yoongi licked his lips and adjusted his sweater. “I need advice.”

“Fellas,” Jin brings his hands to a pensive stance in his lap. He looks over at Yoongi, face serious. “Is it gay when-“

“-and fuck you,” Yoongi says while turning on the ball of his heel, but not before his face blooms bright red.

“Awwh,” you and Namjoon coo. “Jin!” You both shout at him, but only you are in range to shove him.

“He was actually going to tell us!” You whine.

“He’ll figure it out,” Jin nods.

* * *

 

Thursdays are the busiest days in your graduate assistant office. The university had employed a “Free Friday” policy two years ago, which makes every class M/W/F, T/Th, or M/W/Th. Honestly, as a student and faux-professor, you’d prefer not having class back to back on Wednesday and Thursday. However, most of the university seemed satisfied with the new policy.

You don’t usually pause your work when someone knocks on the door. But this time, you heard a few giggles and whispers. It draws your attention, and you pull the headphones from your ear.

Jungkook and Jimin stand at the doorway, walking in your direction. They make an odd pair, Jimin in his perfectly pressed sweater with a jean jacket hanging over his shoulders, and Jungkook in a black Tshirt and black sweats, boat hat pulled low over his face.

“Are you trying to hide something?” You ask, swiveling in your chair. Jungkook ducks his head a bit more, but Jimin continues scanning the place.

“Are there no cute male graduate assistants?” Jimin huffs, popping his hip to the side as he scrutinizes the space.

“Not many cute male graduate students besides Namjoon,” you sigh in agreement. The humanities program at your school sorely lacks a male population.  It’s to be expected in a program strongly focused on literature, a degree which already curses most students to unemployment.

You notice Jungkook still staring intently at your keyboard. You glance over, seeing nothing of interest. Craning forward in the chair, you look up under his hat and bangs. He curls his lips in, avoiding an awkward expression but only looking sillier. But the focus on his mouth makes your heart stutter a tiny bit, remembering the last time you’d stared into his face.

“What’s up, Kook?” You inquire, trying to be casual.

“It’s…” Jungkook shoves his hands in his pockets. “It’s awkward still…”

“What’s awkward?” Jimin asks, nudging Jungkook. “Oh, you mean almost making out with her then waking up in her empty be-“ Jimin doesn’t finish due to a kick to the shins and a smack to the back. He coughs, doubling over and unsure which injury to nurse. You and Jungkook both laugh nervously, glancing around at the closer graduate assistants who still size up Jungkook and Jimin.

“Kook,” you say, crossing your arms and leaning back in your chair. It creaks loudly under the weight of graduate school stress. “We talked about this. We are good. It’s fine. Don’t make it weird.”

“As I told you,” Jimin nods in agreement, also crossing his arms. Jungkook shrugs, still not gazing your way.

“Still awkward,” he mumbles.

“You’re making it awkward,” you and Jimin say in unison, then give each other a surprised look to realize you actually agree on something. Jimin doesn’t seem pleased about it.

“We are here to prove everything is fine,” Jimin says, resting a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “He wants to make sure that you are still coming to his track meet this weekend, that it isn’t weird.”

“I can say it myself,” Jungkook pouts, rolling Jimin’s hand off. Jimin waves towards you, making the way. “I don’t want things to be weird, so please still come to my track meet.” He finally looks at you, a small smile on his face.

“Not so hard, was it?” You say, a tad patronizing. Jungkook splutters his lips back at you, mocking you. Good, back to normal. “Of course I’ll be there.” The boys smile together. “But for now, there is no reason to be here. So get out before I’m harassed by my coworkers to give out numbers.”

“Wow, such a professor,” Jungkook teases. They both turn to leave.

“Give my number to the cute graduate boys,” Jimin waves from behind. You hear two girls audibly groan at the lost prospect. You’re about to shout that it’s only Namjoon, but then you get what he means.

* * *

 

The following week, you and the gang head to one of Jungkook’s bigger track events of the semester. He really improved, maybe because he finally found friends on the team. It's clear to you that he's improving, even though you know nothing about the sport. Competitive as ever, being a senior member brought Jungkook into his element.

Yoongi refuses to go to the game, not because Jimin and Hope are coming, but because he has his own big final coming up for the midsemester music show. So, you and Jin meet Namjoon at the track field. Just as he comes into view, Namjoon mentions that Jungkook told Tae to sit with them. You try to cut the kid some slack. Two more months and he’ll be a friend. It’s hard to transfer to a massive university. He’s lucky to have wiggled his way into this incestuous group in the first place.

“Professor!” Taehyung shouts, smiling big and bouncing. Tae dressed for the part. He's tossed his usual stylish chic aside in favor of fitting the aesthetic. He had a baseball cap flipped backward on his head, a light t-shirt, and a flannel slung around his waist over shorts. He dressed like he’s going to a baseball game with his dad. You sigh and Jin pats your shoulder.

“I’m not a professor right now, I’m just here supporting Jungkook,” you correct as Taehyung trots over.

“Okay, noona,” you give him a look. The same look you gave him when he chose Anita Hanjaab for his Kahoot name in class last week.

“Let’s get popcorn, kiddo,” Jin says, throwing an arm over Taehyung’s shoulder. His boxy smile causes his eyes to disappear. He nods along, still jumping up and down as Jin leads him to the concession.

“If Tae’s here, that means Thing 2 has to be nearby,” Namjoon hums as you both walk between the bleachers and concessions.

“The three of them are hanging out a lot recently,” You pout. It hadn’t left much time for everyone to get together.

“Awh don’t worry, you have Jin and me,” Namjoon says, throwing an arm over your shoulders. You smile up at him. He smiles back but drops his arm.

Large crowds line the bleachers, which is surprising for March. Track isn’t that popular at the school, but it seems all the team members managed to draw a fair crowd.

As you round the corner, you recognize a girl from LGBT+ club. Even though you aren’t a member as a graduate student, you still see some of the old members from time to time. She sends you a small smile, pointing to the girl next to her and sending you a heart. A smile spreads across your face, happy for her. You send her two thumbs up. She points in Joon’s direction, and you send an “X” in response. She pouts, and you wave it off. Then, she grabs her girlfriend’s hand and looks back to the game.

“What… kind of sign language did I just watch? Is there a secret mission I don’t know about?” Namjoon asks after the exchange ends. “Did you just decide on a threesome?” He guesses, leaning forward to look at the two girls.

“Close,” you joke. Namjoon’s head swivels back, eyes wide. You laugh hard. “I know her from LGBT,” you explain to him. “She joined in my last semester. We hit it off because she’s also bi.”

“Oh?” Namjoon asks, trying to appear nonchalant. But the crossing of his arms and staring straight ahead didn’t mask his interest. “Did you date?”

You shake your head. “Not all bi people date,” you say. “It’s not like because someone else is bi that I only date them. We actually got close because we had similar experiences.” You think back to junior year when you were just getting to know Jungkook, still crushing on Ji Eun, and had just broken up with a short fling. A fling who left you because you were bi. “People feel uncomfortable dating bi girls like they have more people to compete with or something,” you grumble, stabbing at the ice in your drink.

“That’s dumb,” Namjoon says, jutting his tongue into his cheek. “Doesn’t that mean they don’t trust you enough to begin with? That’s key to a relationship.”

You study Namjoon. He’s is observing the track, eyes following something on the field. The reflection of the evening sun sparkles in his eyes, the dark brown alight in a caramel glow under delicate eyelashes. He looks warm, comfortable.

“That may be the sexiest thing you’ve ever said,” you remark. Namjoon’s hand shoots up to cover his mouth as he gives a nervous laugh. You can see the dimple digging deeper into his cheek.

“I’ve said sexy things before?” He asks.

“Sure, why not,” you laugh, nudging his shoulder. He nudges you back, smiling over at you. Now both dimples are on show. You lightly poke your finger at one, but he grabs your wrist.

“Hey now, I may be sexy but keep your hands to yourself,” he remarks with a raised brow. You laugh, trying to pull your hand away. He starts to giggle, too but holds onto your hand a bit longer. After a pause, you apologize and both turn back to the game. Your hands are tucked close to your sides and Namjoon holds his own in his lap.

“Popcorn and hotdogs, a real college experience,” Jin calls from a few steps away. You both look oversee him and Tae trotting down the steps.

Jin settled next to you, placing the popcorn between you two as usual. Tae settles next to Jin, leaning forward on his hands to scrutinize the track.

“Where’s Jungkookie?” He hums, surveying the track. You and Jin also look, but Namjoon pulls out his phone. After a few seconds, he says, “He’s doing a spin or something.”

All your eyes scan left to right before you see a crowd that has someone bouncing up and down, twirling in the air. He’s like a Sim with a little green arrow, but instead, it’s a tuff of fluffy, brown hair bouncing above the crowd of short-shorts and green.

You all wave widely and shout. Even at this distance, you can see Jungkook’s face scrunch up in a smile as he waves back enthusiastically. He then turns back, running in place and talking to a friend.

“He’s gonna do great,” Namjoon says, putting his phone away.

“He’s improved so much just this year, I can’t wait,” you agree. You and Namjoon exchange another smile.

“Wow, it really is mom and dad,” you both whip around to see Tae peering over, chewing on his tongue as he scrutinized you both. He cuts his eyes to Jin, still leaning so far over to observe the three of you that he may fall into the next set of bleachers. Part of you wants him to. “Does that make you Uncle Jin?”

Jin lets out a huff, grabs a fistful of popcorn, and attempts to shove it in Tae’s mouth. He does, in fact, fall over at this point. He shouts and grabs at the front bleachers, nearly toppling over. You can’t help but laugh, and you all duck from Tae faking slinging his slushie towards you. He pouts, looking unbelievably boyish. Something about him did remind you of Jungkook at times.

“When does the game start?” Tae asks. “I’ve never been to one of these.”

“It’s not a game, it’s a meet,” Namjoon corrects, settling in. You and Jin nod, even though you are pretty sure you both had called it a tournament earlier today.

“Either way, it’s a lot of small events. You could say it’s hard to keep track of,” Jin quips, raising an academic finger to the sky. You high-five Jin, but Namjoon adds a groan to his inevitable eye-roll.

Eventually, Jungkook’s race comes up. The crescendo of runners lines up, an awkward, opaque rainbow of school patriotism. Jungkook looks up once more, and you jostle Namjoon and Jin simultaneously to remind them to wave. But this time, it’s not scrunched smile. Jungkook is in the zone. Now on your side of the track, you can see the confident smirk on his face before he sets his sights back on the hurdles in front of him.

Despite the chatter of other friends and family who had no one in the current event, the four of you hold your breath, waiting for the buzzer. Tae even clutches his hands to his chest.

Beep.

The runners take off, Jungkook caught in the cluster. Right off the bat, someone knocks over a hurdle that sends the others tilting, but Jungkook is already out of the mess. They're shooting around the track, and you can’t help jump to your feet, shouting “go, go!” with Tae each time Jungkook hurls himself over the obstacles. He’s behind first and second but there are still several lagging behind. As the last few hurdles come into view, Jin and Namjoon join you. Cupping their mouths and shouting “Jungkook” loudly. In the final stretch, Jungkook picks up speed. He glides passed the other, his pace graceful despite how fast they are all really running. It looks almost effortless, the way he coasts passed them right at the end to take first.

All four of you cheer, hugging each other and bumping into the bleachers on either side and knocking over Namjoon’s coke. You even send Tae an enthusiastic smile behind Namjoon. Jungkook had won his first event of the match.

Jungkook has a phenomenal tournament. He takes second and first again in his other two events. He also seems to be networking incredibly well, even talking to female members of the team. After the track meet ends, the four of you make your way down to the track to find Jungkook.

“Woah,” Tae says, waking up and slapping Jungkook’s thighs. “Your legs look incredible in these.”

“Actually, we should put Namjoon in a pair of these,” Jungkook quickly deflects the attention.

“Wow let’s go celebrate somewhere I can keep my jeans on,” Namjoon follows with another quick deflection.

“Actually,” Jungkook says, running the towel back and forth over his sweaty shoulders. “Some of the guys are going to the club. Nothing official. They asked if I wanted to come. Jimin had mentioned phase 2 being-”

“Phase 2?” You cut in, crossing your arms. “Was I phase 1?”

Tae starts to answer but Jungkook starts to speak louder. “-PHASE TWO BEING going out and trying to casually pick people up.” Then, meeting your gaze, he adds sassily, “after phase 1, Tinder.”

Satisfied, you nod along.

“How’s that gonna work?” Jin jabs. “The only thing you pick up is weights at the gym.”

“And he’s damn good at it, which makes him damn good looking for girls,” Jimin quips, coming from nowhere.

“Do you just appear out of thin air?” Namjoon asks, scooting to let him into your little barricade, forcing the crowd to part around you.

“Only when you think about me,” he winks.

“Tae messaged us where he was so we thought we’d join after dance class,” Hope called, trotting up to the group.

Everyone seemed to have a thought at the same time. “Can we go to a club like this?” Jungkook asks.

Jimin shrugs. “We can go however we want. Though some street clothes may not hurt for you…” Jimin scans Kook’s legs, which flex as he shifts his weight.

“The club?” Hope raises his eyebrows. “Let’s go!”

“Can we invite Ji Eun?” Jungkook suggests, phone in hand.

“Huh?” Joon asks suspicion etching into his features.

“She’s lonely,” Jungkook explains, showing his phone. It’s a snapchat of Ji Eun, pouting in a cat filter, with the caption “no more plans tonight”. In Na must be busy again on a set.

“Let’s bring her around,” you say, taking out your own phone.

“I’ll go tell the guys!” Jungkook scrunches his face in a smile, but something in his smile is a little nervous. Jimin and Tae exchange a glance, but it’s more akin to you and Joon’s feelings than mischief.

Jungkook’s friends didn’t seem to realize he would be bringing an entire entourage. They also didn’t seem to realize he meant “friends” as in mostly men. When Ji Eun had met the gang at the station, she arrived with complimentary water bottles full of crystal light and liquor. You and Ji Eun cling close to each other after getting off the tram, trying to make an impenetrable bubble field of “girls with girls” in the mass of men. You feel grateful she eagerly agreed to join the event. She, of course, dresses perfect for the event. Tight black skirt, low cut blouse.

“We look like a couple,” she giggles, taking in your cut off shorts and t-shirt.

“You’re enforcing gender binaries,” you snicker, wrapping your arms around her waist as she keeps walking. The alcohol makes you feel even hotter in the sticky air, the humidity of a rainy spring making it a little uncomfortable. Some of the guys look over, and you feel a bit relieved that they may be thinking the same thing. You just want to have fun tonight, no drama.

As you stand in line for the club chatting together, Jimin and Tae come over. They handed over the last of the water-bottle-liquor. You don’t want to think about how much or what kind of liquor is being consumed. “Okay mom, listen here,” you quirk an eyebrow at their attitude, but listen. “Don’t interfere. Let Kookie handle this on his own. Let your boy soar.”

“I’m not gonna baby him,” you pout, offended. You aren’t a party crasher.

“Yeah, she’s my baby tonight,” Ji Eun smiles, grabbing your hand. Tae smiles, grabbing Jimin’s hand as well.

“Be my baby!” He coos at Jimin.

“Well, Yoongi’s not coming, so I’m off duty,” he says, slinging an arm behind Tae’s back.

_ Fucking knew it _ , you think to yourself. Hope plays dirty.

The club is disgusting. Not that it is unsanitary by any means, but it’s not your usual scene. It’s not Jungkook’s scene either. Actually, Jimin and Hope are the only two you can confidently say belong here.

Nonetheless, everyone wandered their own ways and find a way to fit in between sweaty bodies, crowded bars, and ripped leather seating areas. Ji Eun manages to keep you on the floor, bouncing to the beat. Jin tries to keep up, but his still-healing ankle wins over the alcohol and kicks him to the bar. Namjoon, clumsier than the rest of you, joins him.

The fact that Ji Eun knows every word to each song is enough to keep you on the floor, laughing at all the fun she’s having. At some point, Ji Eun decides she needs more fluids to keep up your matching shuffle to the beat. As she deftly drags you through the crowd, you see Jungkook with Tae and some of the track people, talking to some girls. You smile but then grimace. You remember Tae and Jimin’s words. Losers, you aren’t gonna cause a problem.

But you reconsider when the song changes and Jungkook seem to know it, hip thrusting so hard like he wants to start a brawl.  _ Don’t part crash _ , you tell yourself, praying Jimin will stop Jungkook before he embarrasses himself. To your surprise, three or four girls seem to be laughing, and not in mockery. But your staring has you colliding into Ji Eun’s back as she reaches the bar.

“Having a good time?” Namjoon asks. You flip your head around, smile most likely too wide from the alcohol. But you aren’t sure, because the alcohol and the heat make it hard to feel anything on your face. Joon smiles wide, and you poke his cheek while Ji Eun orders two drinks, not even asking the price.

“Do you…” Joon looks over your shoulder, and his smile shifts a bit. “Do you…”

“Spit it out!” You shout over the crowd, unsure if you can’t hear him or he is broken on repeat.

Joon chews his lip, and you tap your foot impatiently even if he can’t see. “Do you want a drink?” He asks, as Ji Eun hands you something pink. You blink at the drink, then back at Namjoon, then the drink. “Ahaha,” he laughs loudly. “You got one! Great!” He leans back on the bar, scooting down towards Jin again.

“Weirdo,” you shout. You and Ji Eun throw back the drinks before returning to the floor.

After about an hour in the club, it’s enough. You and Ji Eun retreat to the bathroom to devise an escape plan somewhere that you can both hear each other. Thankfully, someone else shares your sentiments.

_**Jimin** _

_ Let’s go _

_ Escape route _

You wave the phone at Ji Eun with wide eyes. “A mission!” you chime, and you both giggle.

“Are you ready?” Ji Eun grabs your hand tightly. You register the firmness of her hand, skin numb from the alcohol. She leans against the wall next to the bathroom door.

“Let’s go,” you bring your fist up ready to fight, but Ji Eun just giggles.

The air hangs thicker than you remember, after the (somewhat) fresh air from the bathroom. Ji Eun is deft in her ability to push through the crowd, and even in your haze, your impressed by the beeline for the door. Within a minute, she’s managed to pull you outside where Jin and Hope already stand against the Uber.

“Okay party people, let’s take this down the street somewhere chiller,” Jin waves as he starts walking.

You feel a bit woozy. You and Ji Eun lean against the car. “This isn’t our Uber?” “Ji Eun leans into the window, shouting, “ARE YOU NOT OUR UBER?” Before Jimin appears from nowhere, yanking her along and in turn you. Jungkook’s hands slouch over your shoulders, and you think the weight might knock you to your feet.

“I danced with a girl,” he giggles in your ear. You laugh back at the softness of his voice.

“Did you now?” You let go of Ji Eun who is being pulled way too hard by Jimin and grab onto Kook’s arms. “How was it?”

He nuzzles into your shoulder, another giggle breaking through. You can see his crinkled eyes. “She was pretty,” Jungkook says.

“Where is she now?” You ask, shrugging Jungkook off your shoulder nad linking arms.

He pouts. “Jimin says not to take the first girl home. Practice makes perfect.”

“Oh and was that what Jimin said when he told you to kiss the only girl you know?” You teased.

Jungkook pouts and shakes your shoulders. “That was Tae.”

“Wonderful,” you say, now grumpy.

“We made our escape before he could get too attached,” Jimin calls. Wow, the rest are getting farther ahead quickly. Now Jimin’s choice to use “escape” made more sense.

Wherever you end up, it’s cloudy. A hookah bar. You are inside for about five minutes before you all realize trying to be cool and chic doesn’t change the fact that no one can handle the smog.

You wander the streets before finding yourself at the tram station. Compared to your usual parties at the apartments, this night is exhausting. Jungkook’s friends from Track had stayed at the club, and you now all scatter between the benches and trees next to the tram station, enjoying the night air.

“This is illegal,” Namjoon states matter-of-factly. “Loitering in parks is illegal.”

“We are not loitering, we are recovering,” Tae provides for an excuse.

You laugh. Not a bad argument.

You fold your knees up in front of Jin, putting your hands on his shins to keep you stable. Out of earshot, you can hear Jimin acknowledging Jungkook’s efforts as he recites his conversation with the “pretty girl” he met at the club.

“Jin,” you smile at him. Jin smiles back, his whole face red from the alcohol despite his high tolerance. “Jin,” you say again. His smile falters a bit, his eyes darting across your face. Watching them move makes you a little woozy.

“Yes, professor?” He asks. You smack at his thighs. Jin yelps but doesn’t stop. “Come be my teacher,” he taunts in a tune you don’t know. You reach for him and this time he does stop, both of your stomach’s sloshing.

“I’m sorry I deleted our messages,” you try to feign sadness to add emphasis.

“It’s okay,” Jin answers quickly. Maybe it’s sincere. Arms cross your shoulders and you almost fall forward, crashing into Jin’s legs as Ji Eun settles behind you. The muscles flex under your grip, trying to keep himself upright, too.

“She feels bad about it,” Ji Eun echoes, not even knowing what you are apologizing for.

“Did you talk about me?” Jin asks, his eyes widening a bit.

“Sure,” you say, nodding along. Whatever makes him not look as sad as this morning.

Jin laughs his smile wide again. You laugh, too. Jungkook and Jimin are laughing, and you are all laughing in the park.

It felt a lot cuter than how crazy it might look to the couple walking by.

“What?” you hear Jimin shout. Everyone rolls over to their direction. The boys sit huddled around a tree, Taehyung’s head in Jimin’s lap. “I told you no to give her your number!” Jungkook kicks out at Jimin, maybe a little too hard in his buzz, and it sends Jimin tumbling backward and Tae groaning as his hair gets pinched under the weight.

“It’s not the girl from the club,” Jungkook says, waving his phone and narrowly missing Taehyung’s head.

“Who is it?” Namjoon asks head on his hands, elbows on the grass.

“This girl from track… might have mentioned going to a movie… and I might have said…” Jungkook has a big toothy grin plastered on his face, “I’ll take her.”

Everyone erupts in cheers, scooting, rolling, and crawling over to make one giant dog pile hug. Arms stretched over shoulders, heads, grabbing on into a tight bear hug. “Jungkook got a date! Another date!” You all cheer.

“Let’s hope sober Jungkook can keep it up,” Hope mumbles, and the hug shifts as several of you attempt to jab at him.

“We’re going to the movies!” You call excitedly.

“Nah, I’m going to the movies,” Jungkook corrects.

You all look around at each other and start to snicker. “No,” you say again, “ _ we’re _ going to the movies.”

You hear a groan from inside the hug. “Fine, but no Bluetooth mission impossible shit this time,” Jungkook concedes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trope-y movie-date stalking episode is next! Things are about to pick up speed.


	5. these are my friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jungkook's movie date, Jinless burger adventures, and some more bad puns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lowkey-highkey this chapter has not been beta-read but I really wanted to get it out before July ended!  
> Intro: these are my friends by lovelytheband

You, Taehyung, and Jungkook stare at the bright purple bulge resting on the ottoman in the center of your living room. The skin pulls tight against the swelling, now three times the regular size.

“Wow, everything about you is dramatic,” Tae mutters in awe. He rubs his chin and leans closer to survey the damage to Jin’s ankle.

Jin only answers with a low whine, wincing as Jungkook uses the top of his finger to tilt Jin’s big toe from left to right.

“You’re making it worse!” Jin tries to reach forward, but the shift makes the pain increase.

“Am not,” Jungkook retorts.

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“It’s my ankle, I would know if-”

“Clearly, not,” you butt in before he can finish. “You shouldn’t have come dancing! You didn’t even dance and look at this!” You gesture to his long, outstretched leg. His ankle tops off the expanse like an overripe cherry on top.

Jin taps at the swelling gingerly, frowning at its disposition. “I wanted to hang out.”

“This is why the movies are a better alternative for him,” Hope says, man-spread taking up half the other couch. 

“That’s a good point,” Jin says and a small smile tucks his cheeks into round apples. “All soldiers reporting for operation Movie Cooties.”

“No one is going to the movies,” Jungkook gripes. He falls back on the couch Hope occupies, tucking his feet under Hope’s thighs and his head behind his shoulder.

Once sober, he regretted his bravery in the park. Apparently, the girl might have had similar thoughts because she suggested making it a double or triple date with some of her friends. Taehyung secured a spot as the double date. But the rest of you still had your plan ready to watch from afar while Taehyung did damage control up close.

Honestly, you all knew Jungkook could handle it. You all just want to watch at this point. Plus, he is so fun to pick on.

“Stop talking about it like a battle plan,” Jungkook had whined.

“I’d think turning it into an Overwatch campaign would make it easier for you to manage,” Yoongi had jabbed.

Jimin fusses with his hair in the reflection of the oven. “It’s the perfect set up. Joon and I can pair up and that leaves Jin and Noona,” he lets out a tinkling laugh.

“Haha, very funny,” you roll your eyes. Jin just shrugs, focusing on his ankle.

Hope is about to comment on how he’s been left out of the plan, but Jungkook’s head pops up from behind his shoulder. “Yeah, about that, you guys seriously can’t come,” he says.

You all stare at him. Jimin blinks slowly.

“Riiiiiiiiight,” Jimin nods slowly. “Of course we aren’t coming,” he says, sinking to the floor next to Tae. You almost forgot Tae is here since he’s completely engrossed in drawing patterns on the shag rug covering the middle of the living room.

“No, I’m serious,” Jungkook pouts, corners of his mouth tucking in. “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m fine. I’m bringing Tae.”

“Okay, sure, we won’t go,” you say with an eye roll.

“I’m serious!” Jungkook whines.

“We aren’t going  _ with _ you,” Jin emphasizes, holding up web-shooters and adding sound effects. “We just all really want to see this movie.”

“Yeah, even I want to leave my room to watch this movie,” Yoongi says. “You can’t bar us from seeing a movie more than half the city is pumped to watch.”

Jungkook leans forward, huffing so hard his bangs puff off is head. He takes a deep breath, then surveys the room. “If I see any of you there,” he eyes the whole gang, “I’m not going to do laundry for a week.” The smiles drop from your faces. “At this house,” he points to the floor before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, “or at my own house.”

“Okay now,” Jin assuages. His ‘web-shooters’ turn palm up in a sign of surrender. “Settle down, no need to get so serious. We were all joking, right?” You all nod enthusiastically, even Yoongi.

“Well, good,” Jungkook says, not dropping his thumb. 

“Where is Joonie?” Jimin calls, unaffected by the threat of laundry duty. Even though his thoughts linger on Joonie, his arm is slung around Tae’s shoulders, tugging him closer.

“Studying, for those of you who forgot such a thing exists,” you scold in your professor-voice. 

“Disgusting,” Jungkook continues to find things to complain about. “I’ll never understand why you all chose to keep studying. At least Jin picked a survival skill.”

“Joon said he’s turning into a lyric-machine,” Jin says, waving his fingers about.

“I still can’t believe he’s taking a poetry class,” you comment.

“Oh, I can,” Jungkook says. Then he turns to his phone. “Shit, I have to get ready for practice.” He heaves himself off the couch and heads to the door. Tae shrugs out of Jimin’s snares and follows in-tow.

Jungkook pauses at the door. “Seriously, don’t come.” You all give enthusiastic thumbs up.

As he exits, Yoongi plops down in his empty space. He waves the digital barcode for your movie tickets shining on his phone screen. “So, how are we sneaking past the laundry fairy?”

* * *

 

The day of the movie, plans are set. To Yoongi’s despair, he, Hope, and Jimin would be a pair in the middle. You, Jin, and Namjoon would stake out the back, heading in first. And lastly, Tae would do recon from up close, giving any live updates that may be too hard to watch from above.

But alas, plans change.

Tae can’t go. His job called him in last minute. A huge storm is on its way and the staff needs to cover up all the crops on the local farm he’d found employment at. 

Not only can he not give live, first-hand embarrassing anecdotes, he also can’t help Jungkook and his date ease the first date tension. Which leaves Jungkook changing between five different black shirts two hours before the movie starts.

And then there’s Jin. Once again, you find yourself watching him whine and flail in his bed. Even flailing, he gingerly twists his injured foot side to side, teeth gritting.

“I wanna play recon though!” He whines, almost sounding melodic.

“The doctor said your ankle is too bad and needs to be elevated,” you scold, arms crossed at the foot of his bed.

He grabs onto your arm. “Don’t leave me,” his eyebrows are arched high with dramatics. “Who is going to take care of the jinjured?”

“Should pick your battles better, bud,” Namjoon says with hands stuffed in his pockets. Jin sends him a glare, and Namjoon sucks in his cheeks. You look between both of them. 

“I think I can still go,” Jin says to Namjoon.

You sigh and peel off his arm. “Jin, you need to rest. Look, we even got you gummies,” you pull out the pack from your bag. “Tae’s coming over after work to amuse you. Pull up Netflix, you have your own movie here.”

“You even got me gummies?” Jin looks like he’s about to cry as he takes the bag. He slams back into the bed, clutching the gummies to his chest. It’s hard to imagine he’s the oldest when his headboard has two Mario’s and a Yoshi figurine staring down him down. “I can’t make fun of Jungkook if I’m watching a movie by myself.”

“We’ll make fun of him plenty for you,” you say with mock care. “Plus, Jimin will no doubt text Tae live updates.”

Jin gripes but tears open the gummy bags. You can’t help but “Awe” at the way his sad cheeks get even bigger from the chewing.

As you and Namjoon head back into the entryway to leave, you tug on his arm. “Hey.”

“What’s up?” He says, eyeing your all-black incognito outfit comically. “Want me to throw on a burglar costume, too?

“What was that back there?” you motion to Jin.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, that weird-” you mimic the faces they made at each other.

“Oh, that?” Namjoon looks at the ceiling. “I’m just making fun of him for being an idiot.” He shrugs. You give him a stare a little longer, then head out the door.

That night, locals stand in the theater lobby in pairs of twos and fours, ranging in apparel from yacht pants to pajama shorts. You and Namjoon arrived before the trailers start. You want to get in position before Jungkook notices you there. 

At least, that’s what you planned. You didn’t plan on Jungkook and his date to walk through the door at the same time you are. His hands are shoved as deep as possible into his pants pockets, the girl’s gripped behind her back.

“Shit!” You scan the lobby for somewhere to hide. Grabbing Namjoon’s hand, you take off towards the closest hideout- a closed women’s restroom.

“I can’t!” Namjoon hisses as you drag him under the “closed” bar. As soon as you enter, Namjoon makes to run but you hold him back. You peer around the corner. Namjoon concedes with a loud sigh and looks out over your head.

“Who shows up late to a movie date?” You snap.

“Not Jungkook. He left an hour ago,” Namjoon sounds a bit pitying.

“She’s already not worth it,” you scoff. They get in the snack line. “And she wants snacks after coming this late?”

“Sounds like nobody but you is going to be worth it.”

“Oh hop off,” you twist and Namjoon is right in front of you, crowding your space in order to see out. You realize he can’t get too far away because you’re still holding his hand.

You drop it and look at how many tiles are on the wall. “Sorry.”

Namjoon cocks his head. “For what?” He flips his hand over. “This ole thing? Use it whenever you want.”

You look up at his smiling face, cheeks high and eyes vanishing.

“Ahem,” a loud, congested cough sounds behind Namjoon. You both turn your heads to see a large custodian, mop in hand, staring you both down. You stare back, unsure of how to justify yourself. “Bathroom. Closed,” she mouths with extra emphasis on each syllable.

“Just give us a second,” you whisper over Namjoon’s shoulder.

“With a body like that, I hope that boy doesn’t need only a second,” the guard gives Namjoon the up-down and you feel him squeeze a bit closer to you.

“It’s not like that!”

“That’s what they all say.”

“Look, ma’am, I’m an upstanding citizen,” Namjoon argues, clutching his hand over his heart. The lady knocks her hip to the side, daring him to continue.

“It’s not-” you huff and drag Namjoon out of the bathroom before finally releasing his hand. You both look around and don’t see Jungkook or his date.

“Coast is clear,” you murmur, facing forward and heading towards your theater.

“Hey,” Namjoon calls. You turn around quickly, ready to duck. Instead, it’s just Namjoon alone in the movie hallway, loose pants and baggy sweater making him look comfy and inviting in the golden glow of the overhead lights. “It’s this way.”

Only a few people dot the theater seating. Expected for a movie on a weekday. You and Namjoon sit in the far back, watching Jungkook and his date a few rows down. They sit evenly spaced, their heads two perfect half circles over the middle of their seats. 

In contrast, you pull up the middle armrest. “These new seats make the doubles look like a giant bed!”

Namjoon chokes on his soda. He wipes at his chin and checks his shirt quickly. 

“You good?”

“Totally,” he laughs. As the trailers start rolling, you notice Yoongi, Hope, and Jimin sneak up the side. With Hope’s bright red hair, it will be impossible for Jungkook to not notice him. They do their best, standing out even more by using each of their chosen movie snacks to cover their faces.

The movie starts. About five minutes in you nudge Namjoon as Jungkook shifts to put his elbow on the armrest. “A move! A move!” you whisper.

“I do want you to know that unlike Jin, I actually wanted to see this movie,” Namjoon murmurs, not taking his eyes off the screen.

You settle into the seat, missing Jin. The movie isn’t your favorite hero, and his commentary would have boosted the viewing. Not a bad first date movie, though. Another 25 minutes later and you’re done with the male-led plot. You watch the other moviegoers, trying to decipher their reasons for coming based on positioning. Before you find Jungkook again, your eyes drift down to the other three when Hope’s laugh echoes in the half-empty theater.

“Hey,” you nudge Namjoon again from where your shoulders have slouched into each other. “Look at that mess.”

Namjoon makes to scold you again but pauses. Hope is sitting in the middle of his seat, shoulders hunched up like his arms are crossed. With the others only two rows down, you can make out why in the flashing scenes: Jimin and Yoongi both have their arms palm-up on either side of him.

“Oh my god, this happened in  _ Twilight _ ,” you whisper.

“You mean  _ New Moon _ ,” Namjoon corrects, finally acknowledging you.

“Holy fuck,” you pronounce in wonder. When you look over, you see Namjoon fidgets with his own hands over the armrests. “I can’t believe you.”

“I wonder which one is gonna jump up in a sweat and morph into a wolf,” Namjoon continues proving his dorkiness as he recites the next scene of the film. Muffling a laugh, you wrap your arm through his. He twists both your arms a bit more, interlacing your fingers and pulling you over a bit more. 

“I bet it’s Jimin,” he whispers into your ear. You cover your mouth as you choke on your laugh. Adjusting to the new position, you relax farther into your seat. But when Joon squeezes your hand, something cold runs down your spine. You shake it off, leaning onto his shoulder. Against his skin, the theater is hotter than you remember.

Glancing at the screen again, you have absolutely no idea what is happening but have no trouble following along with the booms and pows of the fight scene.

“Look,” Namjoon whispers into your hair, “Kook’s holding hands, too.”

The smile that blooms across your face in the dark hurts your cheeks. You slap at Joon’s arm with your free hand. “He’s growing up!” You smile up at Joon. 

Your eyes are level with his lips, still turned to whisper to you. Their plump, slightly parted like he was ready to speak again. You can see the tops of his bottom teeth. His tongue darts out to wet his lips to speak. Own tongue twitching, it reminds you of how dry your lips are, too.

“Hey, New Girl,” you snap up from his lips to see an eyebrow cocked high under his bangs. You stretch, trying to play off...whatever just happened. Your hand comes up with his, and he lets out an “ow!” as your intertwined hands collide with his jaw. 

You jerk over towards the other armrest, his hand falling from yours and draping into your lap before he jerks to the opposite armrest. Realizing the commotion, you both duck forward in your seats.

Looks of annoyance, surprise, and a smug smirk stare back at you from the other three’s row. Luckily, Jungkook didn’t hear.

You turn to look at each other. Namjoon has half his face tucked in his hand, eyes wide. You keep your hands in your lap. Then you laugh at your rigidness, shaking your head and trying to relax comfortably in your seat.

As the movie draws to an end, you and the row of recon #2 duck, all five of you pulling your hoodies up. Your knees buckle against the seat in front of you. The girl immediately stands, Jungkook following after.

“Who the fuck leaves a Marvel movie before the credits are over?” You whisper yell.

“Shut up and pay attention!” Namjoon jabs a finger out, still hugging his arms close to his chest to avoid detection. Jungkook’s hunched over because he’s being dragged by the girl. He has the stupidest, look on his face, eyes wide and lips rolled in to avoid a smile that still tugs at his eyes.

He suddenly looks in your direction. You and Namjoon cover your eyes, as though it will help. Instead, Jungkook gives a thumbs up in the general direction of all five of you. Your jaw drops. 

Joon starts shoving your shoulder. Jungkook and the girl disappear behind the ramp wall. 

“Oh my god, oh my god!” He squeals. The row of three practically jumps out of their seat to look back. You both jump up, cheering, just before the next Marvel trailer starts to play and the crowd shushes you all.

Jungkook isn’t the only one not going home alone. When Joon dips to finish a paper, he’s followed by Jimin and Hope who wave goodbye to head back to the studio. The way they say it sounds natural. But the way Yoongi says it after brooding the whole walk home…

“Did you hear that? The studio. Some new twerp slang for sex, I bet,” Yoongi grumbles from a chair in the living room. The rest of you had headed back to your place to check on Jin. He now sits next to you, foot elevated on the ottoman. Taehyung grabs beers and take-out menus for the rest of you. It’s bothering you less and less that he’s familiar with your kitchen.

“Oh come on, they have a performance coming up,” Jin tries, scrolling through his phone. Yoongi huffs out a dry laugh, hunkering farther into the chair cushion. His large sweater engulfs him, looking like an angry black glob against the faded chair.

“Easy for you to say, you’re on their side,” Yoongi jabs his finger accusingly, and you’re reminded of the janitor from earlier. “You all turned against me, not inviting me to the club and letting them go together.”

Jin begins sputtering, eyes going wide. “You were literally busy, making music for ANOTHER club!”

“So no one thought to only invite Hope or Jimin,” Yoongi argues irrationally.

“No,” you say.

Yoongi lets out a growl and all but melts into his black attitude.

“Maybe Hope’s plan is working,” Tae muses absentmindedly.

“Maybe they’re both stuck in the third grade,” Jin adds.

“We can always go again,” you suggest. You want to talk about Jungkook, not this. Yoongi continues to face forward, face unnerved. “I think I’ll even invite Ji Woo next time!”

“That’s a great idea!” Taehyung encourages. But Jin grimaces at Yoongi.

“Yoongi,” you call, trying to cheer him up.

“Yoooongi,” Jin tries next. Yoongi actually looks like a reaper when Tae joins in.

“Give us a smile,” you request, leaning on your palms on the armrest.

“That’s sexual harassment,” Yoongi mutters through tight lips. “Why should I smile? All my friends ditched me. Rooting for Jimin, clubbing.”

You roll your eyes. “You hate clubbing.”

“Besides the point,” Yoongi continues to face forward.

“Hold on,” Jin says. A few moments later, he holds out his phone. Yoongi glances that way, curls his lips in, and bites back a smile with a shrug to readjust his stoic persona. You turn the phone towards you and see a smiling, albeit sweaty Hope, peace sign held up high.

“Classic,” you remark.

“This is just cruel,” Yoongi says, still smiling a little at his tucked hands.

“Just ask him out, dude,” Taehyung says, shrugging into a chair.

“He doesn’t like me,” Yoongi snaps.

“Yes he does,” you all groan in unison.

Before Yoongi can retort, Jin is startling in his seat. “Oh shit, you guys.”

You all turn to his ankle, but he waves off your worried stares. “Jungkook isn’t at home.”

“What?” Taehyung pauses with his drink lifted to his lips.

Jin turns his phone towards you all. You can’t even read the message underneath because Jin is jumping in his seat. “Jungkook isn’t home!”

“That means…” you start, then you both burst into squeals. You start jumping with Jin, both squealing and grabbing at each other’s hands. 

“It’s uncomfortable how invested you are in everyone else’s sex life,” you hear Yoongi say, but you, Jin, and Taehyung are busy cheering on Jungkook’s success.

“Bold of you to say after coding everything Jimin says into sex,” Taehyung mutters.

As they bicker, you feel something in your chest. Maybe from all the jumping. You look over and realized Jin’s hands are still in your own, folding down in between you. You go to move, but he just folds his fingers in between yours.

“Why?” You ask.

“What?” Jin asks, ears bright red. “You held hands with Joon, why not me?” 

You cock your head, thinking about it. “Fair point,” you shrug and settle back in. Something stutters again when Jin’s thumb brushes twice against your own.

* * *

“HE RETURNS TRIUMPHANT!” Hope hollers when Jungkook comes through the door later the next morning. His shouting shakes your skull from where it lays in his lap. Jungkook ducks in on himself but has a massive smile on his face. Pausing the Friends episode you all have memorized, you hoot and holler together.

“PLAYA PLAY!” Taehyung hoots from where he’s sprawled on the floor with Jimin. Jungkook slouches out of his shoes and mozees into the living room. He tucks his hands into his pockets, yawning

“How was it?” Namjoon asks from where he’s draped over the couch behind Hope. Jungkook starts to speak, then lets out a small giggle and rubs his foot on the floor.

“Oh my god,” you squeal, enamored by the cuteness.

“A boy is a man,” Jimin concedes, nodding approvingly.

Jungkook’s head shoots up. “No! Not…” he blushes, “not that. But, yeah. It was good.” He reaches for the back of his head, scratching through fluffy hair.

“So, when are you seeing her again?” You ask, bouncing in your seat.

“What?” Jungkook asks.

Silence fills the room.

“What do you mean what?”

“I mean, it was just a one-time thing,” Jungkook says, still looking confused.

You all look around at each other.

Taehyung goes to the floor, kneeling before Jungkook with his arms outstretched. “We’ve created a world-class player. Welcome to the team.” Jungkook shoves him back as you all burst out laughing.

“No! It’s just… there was another girl earlier who had asked to get lunch this week and-” Jungkook’s cut off by all of your oh-ing and awh-ing. He tucks his tongue in his cheek in frustration, then starts to laugh along with you.

That’s only the beginning. Over the next two weeks, you and Namjoon trade pictures of the girls you see Jungkook with, texting about when he is not home at night. You’d created a monster, a boy who’d fully grown into his dangerous looks. Even his appearance changed, small suggestions from each of his conquests. Trading out black Tees for white ones, slouching collars, growing out his hair, letting it dry with the slight curls.

You’re amazed at how easily he forgives you all for still tracking him down. Especially when a tiny fairy emoji pops up on your screen one afternoon. You peel your face from your textbook being used as an avant-garde pillow.

_ Kookie _

_ Laundry Complete. Plz retrieve. _

You go to answer back, then realize he didn’t send it in the group text. Not many people had been messaging in the group text lately. Of course, you still spam it with dog photos and memes, but Kook and Namjoon and even Tae had been messaging you specifically about plans.

_ Me _

_ A blessing from the laundry fairy _

_ Omwww~ _

Throwing on your last good jeans, you trot on over to the other apartment. It’s starting to get a little too hot for these jeans. It’s a blessing Jungkook took a break from being a playboy today.

“I’m sorry, I was looking for Kook’s room,” you tease, stepping over a track bag and jeans to get to his bed. You hadn’t seen him here in days. Now Jungkook sits in the middle of the bed, beaming up from his computer, surrounded by neatly folded laundry. “Have you seen him? About this high with his dick out all the time?”

“Oh boy, do I have something amazing that I can’t believe I’ve never shown you,” Jungkook says, fidgeting with his shirt. Your hands snap up to your eyes. He rolls his own exasperation. “Not that, come here.” Jungkook plugs his computer into a small projector, laying back on the bed and patting the spot next to him. He pulls the computer into his lap as you settle down next to him, shoulder to shoulder like always on his lumpy mattress. You watch as he searches through youtube.

“I thought he deleted it, but alas, the power of the internet,” Jungkook’s dimples sink deep into his cheeks as he picks a video. A picture of middle school-aged Namjoon is the background image as a beat starts.

“What is this,” you whisper in awe. Nothing can prepare you from what comes next.

“Remember how we’ve all been amazed at Namjoon’s poetry skills? Well, I forgot he had practice back when he and my brother were in middle school,” Jungkook says quickly as the beat signals the beginning.

_ Girl, you’re the medicine patch that eases my motion sickness _ , a young, raspy Namjoon raps through the speakers. Your jaw seems to dislocate towards the bed. 

_ Put your thoughts away and just give me a hug, give me a hug. _ The entire bed shakes with Jungkook’s laughter. 

_ I’m a master baby with your bra _ . You clap a hand over your mouth, tears coming to your eyes as you laugh so hard you don’t even make a sound. You curl into Jungkook, grabbing onto his arm for dear life as you are attacked by lyric after lyric, unable to breathe.

“This can’t be real,” you gasp.

“Oh yes, Junngkook looks over at you, hands pleasantly interlaced across his stomach. “Only the realest of the real, our Runch Randa.”

“Runch what?” You inhale. Suddenly Hobi is at the door, mouthing the words to each line as he steps dramatically across the room, hands waving this way and that like the gangster Runch Randa thinks he is.

“I can’t breathe, I’m dying,” you inhale. Jungkook sits up on the bed, mouthing the lyrics back at Hope. 

Suddenly, Hope jumps and presses a finger to his lips. You all freeze. Jungkook snaps the laptop close. 

Another thump sounds. You realize it’s coming from above, not the front door. The three of you burst into a fit of laughter, Hope collapsing on top of both of you.

“C’mon, Jin has class and I wanna see Ji Woo’s face when we show up without him,” Hope says, smashing into your thigh as he tries to get up. “Let’s go pick up Yoongs and Joonie from basketball.”

You and Jungkook hop off the bed together. In the parking lot, Jungkook jumps onto Hope’s back, swinging his legs excitedly. You pause for a second, taking in the scene in the student parking lot around you. It’s been a while. These are your favorite moments. Schoolwork done, out with your friends, on a mission to find food. These are your favorite people. 

“What’s that dumb look for?” Hope asks, adjusting a light jacket over his shoulders.

“I don’t know, I’m just happy,” you say.

“Poetic,” Jungkook teases.

“You don’t have a girl to run off to?” You fire back. Jungkook hadn’t been home much.

“No, not today,” and the way he says it sounds too matter of fact to even realize you meant it as a joke.

“Speaking of poetics,” Hope says, a light giggle still in his voice. You see Yoongi and Namjoon on the basketball court with some other locals.

“Namjoon!” You shout, waving. He turns. When he locates you, a big smile spreads across his face. “Do you-” you cover your mouth halfway through as a ball smacks into the side of Joon’s face. Jungkook almost gets cement to the face when he and Hope both tumble to the ground from laughter.

He grabs the ball and shouts angrily, chucking it back at whoever threw it. You curl over in laughter and he stomps off to the other side of the court to continue the scrimmage.

“He just gets better with age,” Jungkook says patronizingly with a shake of his head.

“I hope things stay like this forever,” you wish aloud, watching the two boys dribble up the court.

There’s a silence from the other two boys. You look over. They are both looking at you.

“Sometimes, you know...” Hope starts. Jungkook nudges him. “Sometimes things have to change.”

“Like you and Yoongi,” you tease.

Hope looks at you a second longer, no teasing or glimmer in his eye. Then he turns back to the game with a sigh. “Yeah, sure, like me and Yoongs.”

Namjoon and Yoongi run over, wiping down their faces as they pack their backpacks. Namjoon throws a light jacket over his tank, but Yoongi is covered neck-to-toe in Underarmor heat gear.

You jog up to Namjoon, wrapping your arms around his sweaty form. He jumps a bit, reaching out to grab your arms.

“What’s this?” a large, toothy grin plastered on his face.

“Just needed to put my thoughts away and give you a hug,” you say loud enough for the boys to hear. Hope falls to the ground laughing behind you and Jungkook can’t stop his shouts of laughter. Namjoon only looks down, smile a bit more confused. You give him a small squeeze then turn around before you start shaking with giggles yourself.

* * *

 

As predicted, Ji Woo’s face shines brighter than the sun then sets into baked stone when she realizes Jin has not joined you. She stops readjusting the bow of her server uniform and tucks the hat low over her eyes instead.

“You realize you’re missing the only incentive I have to sneak you free food, right?” She sasses, angrily punching at the register keys as she clocks out. Ji Eun jumps on over from where she’s waiting, latching onto you.

“What did you expect?” Ji Eun replies before Hope can get over his laughter. You look over to see her cock her chin in Joon and Yoongi’s direction.

“Is someone fighting?” You ask when you sit with your fries. The restaurant is small, so Hope, Joon, and Kook share a table across the way, fighting over the bacon burger. You, Ji Eun, Ji Woo, and Yoongi share a table.

“Where’s In Na?” Ji Woo asks, handing out drink cups.

“Why are you at the girls' table?” Ji Eun diverges to Yoongi, rarely ever sitting next to Yoongi at any event.

“Because sexism is a product of capitalist production,” Yoongi deadpans, shoving four or five fries in his mouth at once.

“They are both playing hard to get,” you roll your eyes, shoving three fries into Yoongi’s mouth yourself when he goes to retort. It’s impossible to take his glare seriously with the fries sticking between his lips. 

Ji Eun giggles, but Ji Woo’s expression looks similar to Yoongi’s. “I don’t want to hear anything about hard to get from you,” she says, getting up to get another drink.

You look between Ji Eun and Yoongi. “What was that about. She’s been mad at me for weeks!”

Yoongi cocks an eyebrow. Ji Eun studies your face, then chews on her cheek. “Are you really that dense?”

“Apparently,” you egg on.

She looks at you a little longer then shrugs. “Joon’s here, Jin’s not. That’s why she’s mad.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means fewer people, more fries!” Hope shouts, throwing a box at your table. Fries scatter across all your trays.

“Mother fucker is always making a mess,” Yoongi grumbles, reorganizing the fries.

“You like it,” Hope purrs.

Everyone at the table freezes. Joon coughs on his soda. Your burger freezes halfway to your mouth. Ji Woo even stands next to her seat, a look between awe and a smile.

“Fuck you,” Yoongi finally breaks the silence, picking up the fries and scooting his chair farther from the other table.

Yoongi stares at the table, but the rest of you watch Hope’s eyebrows raise and his smirk deepens.

“I’m going to vomit from all this dick tension,” Ji Eun whimpers into your shoulder.

“There, there, little lesbian,” Ji Woo cooes, patting Ji Eun’s hair. Everyone chuckles and gets back to their burgers.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eek I am so excited for the next chapter because this is actually when the original idea for this story began.  
> Outro: The Night by HONNE


	6. Friends Don't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're determined to have a night out with the whole gang. Some people have other intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are entering not-beta-read territory everyone.  
> We are also now at 9 chapters. Oops.  
> Intro: Friends Don't (by Maddie and Tae)

You hit the wall harder than you intended, your backward saunter taking you a step too close. You relax into the surface and smile. Joon steps forward, placing his hands on your hips, leaning in. But just before his kiss, you nip lightly at his plump, bottom lip first. The slightest smile twitches at his lips before he pulls his snared lip into his mouth, his forehead pushing against yours until it’s against the wall. Your breath hitches with a roll of his hips. His gaze travels from your lips to your eyes, his own hooded and dark.

“Is this what you’ve been wanting?” He husks, lips barely brushing yours. You whine, scared what your voice may sound like at the question. Dragging your hands up to his shoulders, you snake them into his hair. He grabs at your wrists and pins them to the wall behind you. “Nothing to say? Professor, don’t you teach the English language?”

You giggle, lightly pulling against his grip yet praying he won’t let go. Finally, _Finally_ , he kisses you. You roll your head to the side as he moves down your neck. Your hands find his chest as he releases them to hug your hips closer.

“Joon,” you mutter, his hands traveling further down.

“Holy fuck,” someone’s voice echoes behind you.

Your eyes snap open. You stare at the ceiling.

Of your bedroom.

Groaning, you grab your head and glance at the covers, which had followed your fall from the bed.

“Joon? _Joon?!_ ” the voice comes again and you sit up with a gasp, pulling the mess of covers over your chest. Jin stands in your doorway, face frozen on the last syllable. “For real?”

You remember bits of the dream from moments before. “Joon?!” In shock at yourself, you grab your head for a whole different reason.

“Holy fuck,” Jin repeats.

“Get the fuck out!” You shout, chucking a pillow at his general direction.

“Yeah, guess I wasn’t who you were expecting.”

“Leave!” You whine, sending the covers over your head. “Why are you always sneaking into my room in the morning!”

“I don’t stand around to hear these things, that’s for sure,” Jin says. You fling the covers back again just to find another pillow. By sheer luck it hits him square in the face, prompting his exit. You press your palm to your forehead. No fever. Definitely a fever dream, though.

“Looks like someone’s falling head over bed for someone else,” Yoongi mumbles from across the hall, scratching his head.

“What are you doing up?” You call, wrapping your sheets around you like a toga. Not that you’re poorly dressed, but the whole incident left you feeling vulnerable. You stumble through the books and clothes on your floor into the hall.

“This guy knocked on my door first,” Yoongi gives an accusatory jab in Jin’s direction.

Jin lifts his nose high in the air. “I have an important announcement.” He heads to the kitchen. The smell of coffee gets stronger as you both follow him.

You and Yoongi plop into the bar stools, both humming when two cups of warm coffee are placed in your hands. The three of you tink them together before taking the first sip.

“The announcement is…?” you ask, starting to fully awaken.

“I’m healed!” Jin says, doing a small spin in the kitchen. You and Yoongi stare at him for a second. In the blur of impending exams, Jungkook’s hoorahs, and everything else, it takes a second for your brain to click. Jin’s out of the foot brace.

“That’s fantastic, Jin,” you smile sleepily. Yoongi nods along, eyes still closed.

“I’m so glad you woke me up after your 8 am appointment to tell me this,” Yoongi adds satirically.

Jin plops his elbows on the counter and gives you both a big grin. “You know what that means?”

“You want to go do something to ruin your progress,” Yoongi offers.

“Exactly!” Jin agrees, popping back up to reach for breakfast supplies. Your stomach grumbles when he pulls bacon from the fridge.

It’s nice to see Jin back to himself. After his ankle turned purple, the doctor said he’d seriously damaged the ligaments and put him on a do-nothing regimen, which, of course, no working college student can commit to. He’d been unusually grumpy at the limitations his foot put on him. He still had to go to class, so most of his free time was spent in his room or on the living room sofa with a block of ice over his ankle.

Something dawns on you! “Oh!” You slip your phone from the waistband of your pajama shorts, scrolling through your old emails. “Our bar is having their seven-year anniversary party. The triplets already said they want to go. Now we can all go!”

Jin and Yoongi exchange glances. “I don’t know if we can _all_ go. The groups’ pretty big now and that’s a lot of-”

“Come on!” you groan, shoving your plate and falling onto the table. “It’s been _literal months_ since we have all hung out. I know we have exams coming up. Hell, I am _giving_ and _taking_ exams. But even I can come out,” you argue, trading a strict look between Yoongi and Jin. “I just want us all to hang out again, as a group.” Yoongi gives a slight smile. “I miss all of us together…” you say in a smaller voice, picking at your thumbnail.

“I do, too,” Yoongi says sympathetically. It sounds strange coming from him and not Jin. You glance up at Jin through batted lashes, who has his own cup of coffee in hand and a spatula in the other. He just shrugs, smiling again.

“It’s settled, then,” you screenshot the email and open up the group message. Over the next hour, plans are made for that Friday and everyone seems just as excited as you to have a night out and the group together again. As promised, you even invite Ji Eun and Ji Woo.

Things had been going on behind the scenes under the influence of everyone hunkering down into their books. Jimin and Taehyung grow ever closer, leaving Hope and Yoongi to continuously find themselves the only two to hang out between Namjoon and Jin. You and Ji Eun spent more time together working on papers for the same courses, while Joon and Jungkook seemed to be doing collaborative study dates on vastly different ends of the spectrum.

You and Ji Eun currently lucked out on finding an open study room in the library and had all of your books and grading scattered about. You can’t even remember the order of your to-do list anymore. Ji Eun’s taken two naps, and you think it might be time for your own.

_Jin_

_How much do u love me?_

You perk up in your chair, grabbing the phone off the table. Ji Eun glances up from her book, desperately seeking any distraction from the printed pages of theory. She holds two open highlighters and you have one between your teeth.

“Jin has food,” you practically mewl.

_You_

_Bbyz more than you know_

Ji Eun leans back and wraps her arms around her stomach, kicking her feet onto the table next to yours. “Dear god, let it be something sweet,” she groans to the ceiling.

_Jin_

_Oo yes girl talk it up_

_Whr r u?_

You text Jin your study room number in the fourth floor of the library. Somehow, even up here, it feels like a deep dark dungeon of test anxiety and presentation peril.

Ji Eun taps her foot against yours and you tap her back, looking at your notes again.

“Hey,” she calls, nudging your foot harder.

“Hey,” you mimic, nudging her back.

“So, Jin is bringing you food?” She looks at her nails absently, suddenly feigning disinterest after clearly trying to get your attention.

“Mhm-mhm,” you hum in excitement.

“Only bringing you food, huh?” She tries again. You finish up your last incoherent scribble in the margins and close your notes.

“Because I appreciate his food and he knows I’m incapable of cooking for myself,” you state. “Plus, you’re here, too. He probably knows.”

Ji Eun stares you down a bit then goes back to looking at the ceiling. “I wish In Na would bring me food,” her lip juts out, making her side profile look like that of a little girl.

“It’s hard to date when only one of you is in school,” you console her. Ji Eun and you had spend a lot of time cooped up in different study rooms. You bet it would be hard on a relationship.

Jin Eun’s lip sticks out a little farther. “But she could still make time to see me like Jin does for you,” she complains again. “Or like you do for me,” she adds before you can argue.

You reach out and boop her pouty lip. “We are both in school though, that’s why we can hang out so easily. We are just studying right now,” you explain. “It’s a busy time.”

Ji Eun rolls her eyes over at you. They’re big, round, somehow turning the stale lighting into a sparkle in her eyes. She rolls her lips in, catching her words. After three years, you knew she physically held her tongue when she didn’t want to say something.

“What is it,” you shut your book again. Then, a familiar sparkle comes to her eye.

“Aren’t you only busy dreaming of Joon,” she teases. You shouldn’t have asked.

“That’s _not_ it.”

“Oh, so it’s Jin.”

“It’s NEITHER!” You smack your book onto the desk sitting up straight. “I’m just stressed. It happens when I’m stressed,” you recite.

Before Ji Eun can poke any more fun at you, a knock sounds at the door. You both look over as Jin pushes through, a paper bag in hand. He’s still in his black kitchen pants and a loose white T.

“Your hero arrives,” he sings, twirling with the bag held high. You make grabby motions towards the air, eager to see what he’s concocted this time.

“You beautiful, beautiful man,” Ji Eun praises. She reaches forward, but Jin holds the bag higher. He looks to you, eyebrows raised. Searching for compliment number two.

“I love a man in uniform. Fuck it up Cheftiana” you gush, eyes locked on the bag rather than his outfit. Satisfied, Jin tosses it on the table. From the bag come two cupcakes, icing a little smushed, but that doesn’t even matter when they are the size of your fist. Jin blows Ji Eun a kiss then pulls out a chair, kicking his feet up with the rest of you. He folds his hands in his lap, smiling contently.

“I hold you forever in my debt,” he hums, winking over at you. You give him a kissy face, licking a strip of icing off the cupcake. Jin coughs and takes a gander at your set up. He lets out a sound of awe, papers and books strewn between the tangle of legs. “This looks like a real struggle here.”

“Struggle is real,” you confirm. The chocolate is amazing. You and Ji Eun can’t help moaning in sync at the first bite. It’s hard to determine if the sweet treat motivates you to keep studying or to just drop everything.

“Who else is going to bring you cupcake service?” Jin gloats, stretching his arms behind his head.

You roll your eyes. “Yes, I’m so glad I kept you around for this very purpose.”

“Harsh,” Ji Eun teases. “Didn’t he only bring it for your undying love and affection?”

Jin puts his hands up. “As a chef, I understand.” He leans forward. “When people ask me which is more important, food or love,” Jin waves a hand as if to display his answer, “I don’t answer, because I’m eating.”

You’re pretty sure some chocolate just went through your nose.

* * *

 

The night of the anniversary party, Hope comes over to carpool after a night at the studio. Yoongi even said that _he_ had texted Hope to ride with you. Maybe because Jimin went back home this weekend.

After Hope arrives and jumps into the shower, you three wait it out in the kitchen. You and Jin make some drinks to pregame before going into the bar. Bottles of different shapes and sizes only ¼ full scatter the table while you build different concoctions for the evening. 

“If it’s an anniversary celebrating our favorite bar in town, shouldn’t we be paying patrons?” Yoongi grumbles from where he squats on the armrest. He managed to at least throw on some new jeans and beanie, giving him his typical “fuck you” look. His knee bounces, causing his slouched shoulders to bob up and down. He stares towards his bedroom where Hope changes into his clothes for the night.

“We are very appreciative patrons,” you chide, pouring more rum into a flask. You try your best not to get any alcohol on your own clothes. In exam time, the laundry fairy isn’t as active, so you need to be careful as your inventory of clean clothes starts to dwindle.

“Who just so happen to also be very poor patrons,” Jin adds, filling his own flask with more Bacardi. “Don’t hate on my homemade Jin and Juice.” Even though he’s driving, it doesn’t stop Jin from partaking in the drink-making process.

Yoongi is about to make a snide remark (probably about drinking-mixing and driving), but the door to his room clicks. His shoulders straighten, neck crooked to the side in nonchalance. Real smooth.

Hope emerges from Yoongi’s bedroom in shiny pants and a matching leather jacket. With his hair drying in natural curls from the shower, he looks good. And as usual, Hope knows it.

He spins around in his new pants, throws on some shades, poses with arms outstretched, and beckons the compliments.

You and Jin pause your drinks to applaud the display. Yoongi just watches, licking his lips nervously. The knee-bouncing intensifies. 

Hope shrugs the jacket down his shoulders a bit when no one remarks. The two of you in the kitchen can feel the tension, unable to manage more than your applause. You’re honestly jealous of how good he looks. But Hope’s eyes are on Yoongi. “Does the jacket match?”

“Mhm,” Yoongi hums.

“Do you like it?” Hope asks Yoongi’s black eyes stare him down. Hoping to appear busy while you keep watching, you and Jin pick up different bottles and set them back down.

“Yeah,” Yoongi finally manages. He’s transfixed on Hope’s form as he saunters closer.

“Do you like my hair?” Hope asks next, again stepping closer to Yoongi. The fit of the high waisted pants accentuates his strut. 

“Yeah,” Yoongi nods about as fast as his knee bobs.

“Do you like me?” Hope says, legs touching Yoongi’s knees.

“Yeah,” Yoongi says. He immediately rolls both his lips into his mouth, blinking a few times. His bland outfit is complemented by the blush crawling up his neck over his face.

Hope bursts out laughing, collapsing onto the armrest next to Yoongi as he shakes uncontrollably. Yoongi shoves him off to the floor and stomps out of the room. Hope sits in the seat and turns to watch Yoongi storm off.

“Awh, do you like me?” He calls, trotting out of the room. A door slams shut, opens again, then closes a bit more lightly. 

“FUCK OFF,” comes Yoongi’s muffled shout. There’s more laughing then muffled voices, then something seems to hit the door.

After a few moments of more muffled noises, laughs, and more thuds.

A strange sound comes from the back room. The vodka you’re pouring misses the flask opening. You and Jin lock eyes. You both tiptoe across the living room to Yoongi’s door.

A whine right before you get to the door stops you both in your tracks. Your roommate husks Hope’s name. Jin grabs onto you in fear.

“Can he even make that noise?” Jin asks. You both take tentative steps back as more noises you don’t need to hear drift through the crack in the door.

Back at the table, Jin starts organizing the bottles. “Did we… just witness a kdrama?”

Another thud. You really aren’t sure if this is some erotic fistfight. “Do you think it will be so loud we need to leave?” You whisper, sipping your pregame drink.

“Let’s go ahead and pick Joonie up,” Jin suggests, grabbing his jacket. He throws it over his pink tee. Sliding into his black combat boots, you eye him over once.

“Damn, is that what you’re wearing?” You ask. The jacket sits right above his hips, giving him a subtle James Dean look.

“What, do you like me?” Jin asks, mimicking the way Hope sauntered up to Yoongi. You laugh out loud, sliding into your own shoes.

At the other boys’ apartment, they are already getting lit. At least, it sounds like it.

“Why is there also moaning at this house?” Jin asks once you’re in the living room.

“Wait, also?” Taehyung asks. He tucks and retucks his hair under a baseball cap. You wonder how he finally settles on a hairstyle without ever checking a mirror.

“Joon’s in the shower,” Jungkook shrugs, “dreaming of his singing career.”

At the mention of dreams, you shoot a warning glance at Jin. However, Joon’s singing preoccupies his attention. “Is that Frank Ocean?”

“Indeed. Channel Orange album,” Jungkook shakes his head in pity. His long hair waves in his eyes, slightly poofy from the long day. You can make out the (attempted) high notes from Thinkin Bout You.

“What did you bring?” Jungkook asks. He bounces over to Jin and yanks Jin’s bag from his shoulder. Jin whines in protest but let’s him dig through it. Jungkook pulls out one of the flasks, takes a sip, then reels in disgust. “Damn, that’s spicy.”

Taehyung takes it from him, doing his best not to spill any on his dress shirt. His eyebrows and mouth contort into some foreign shape that barely represents the human form. “Shit, dude, hella spicy,” he agrees. 

You and Jin trade a glance. “Spicy?”

“Spicy,” the two boys say in unison, heading back to Jungkook’s room to grab their things.

“I can assure you there is no chili powder in that drink.” Jin muses. “Are we getting that old?”

You step into Jin’s space, grabbing at his jacket. “Why didn’t you mention my dream?” You probe, voice lowered. “You never miss a chance to tease me.” Maybe he had something bigger up his sleeve, like telling Namjoon in the car.

Jin sniffs his flask for any spices, shoulders bouncing with a shrug. “What dream?”

“The…” you look both ways now that the shower is off. “The Joon dream,” you hiss.

“Oh that,” Jin does an incredibly bad job of acting nonchalant, lips pouty when he spills some of the flask as he closes it. “I didn’t want to give him an advantage.”

“A what?”

“What?” Jin asks back, wide-eyed innocence.

“What?” Jungkook asks, wandering back into the room.

“NOTHING!” You shout. “Spicy. The fuck does spicy mean?”

“You’re so unhip, New Girl,” Namjoon teases. He comes into the room, already dressed and towel-drying his hair. You seize up. He’s in the exact same outfit from your dream.

On the way to the club, you text Ji Eun about the possible existence of matrix glitches.

* * *

 

The bouncer recognizes you, but you don’t even recognize your usual bar. Is this really the same place you all watched Jungkook’s first date at? All the tables are pushed to the side, a DJ sits in the back. The usual distressed vibe looks cyberpunk in the glowing and flashy lights. But it’s still the same old bar, no coat check and definitely not checking Jin’s bookbag filled with free alcohol. 

“Looks like you got your wish about a club round 2,” you say to Jin before your engulfed by the music’s bass. Ji Eun and Ji Woo wave you over to one of the tables lining the walls. It doesn’t take long for the gang to take some shots, get in some laughs, then head to the dance floor. Jin is snagged by Ji Woo, and you wander onto the floor with Taehyung and Jungkook. 

From the dance floor, you see Yoongi and Hope walk in a few moments later, hand in hand. You can’t help but howl and cheer, even if no one can hear you. As expected, Hope’s eyes scan for any of you to join on the dance floor. He can’t stay away from the beat, even for Yoongi, who plops down next to Jin. You start to head back towards the table, but Hope has other plans.

He pulls you onto the dance floor, the song EDM but with a subtle Latin vibe. All you can do is shuffle your feet as he swings your arms to and fro, swiftly following the steps of bachata as you try to keep up. 

“How are you doing?” You tease, swinging in close. Hope does nothing but smile, throwing his head back in laughter every now and again as you bump into him. His hands are gripping your forearms as you grip his, a firm hold to handle the sloppy steps you attempt.

“I feel sexually satisfied,” he shouts into your ear after a few steps. You grimace in disgust. Barking out another laugh, he spins you out and pulls you back in. “You’re next!” He winks.

As the song comes to an end, he starts to release you. Apparently, he’s satisfied with making a drunken fool of you. He barely disappears from view before hands grab your waist, a figure pressed against you.

Your fingers reach down like claws to lash at whoever had the inkling they deserved to invade your space, but a breath tickles your ear.

“It’s just me.”

Laying your hands more gently on those gripping your hips, you turn your head to see Namjoon’s face tucked into your shoulder. The alcohol dusts his cheeks with pink, and the club feels warmer with his chest pressed against your back. You crane your neck further to talk, but he refuses to make eye contact.

“Do you wanna dance?” you ask, running your hands over his arms, swaying to the beat of the next tune. He gives a curt nod into your shoulder, still not making eye contact. A small smile tugs at his lips as he sways with you.

Even in a sweaty bar-turned-club, it always feels comfortable if the boys were with you. Hope made you laugh, and Joon made you feel safe staying on the floor. He makes a good dance partner, both of you scared to move your feet anywhere for fear of tripping.

The song’s beat starts to kick in, and the bass has your slight buzz trembling in your gut. You wrap Namjoon’s arms tighter around you as your hips rotate to the beat. His breath comes hot against your neck, unable to hide against your shoulder when you are pressed to his chest. Your head rolls back onto his shoulder, staring up at the changing lights. Comfortable.

As the beat picked up again, you twisted your hips a bit more. You realize your eyes had closed when Joon’s lips touch the side of your neck ever so slightly. You jolt, flashes of the dream dancing behind your eyelids. He notices and pulls back, but you twist again, rotating in his grip to be chest to chest.

Maybe it’s the song, maybe it’s the drinks you’ve had, but you find your hands trailing up from his arms to around his neck, bringing yourself closer to him. His lips part, fingers flexing on your hips as he readjusts, forehead leaning in to press against yours. Though you couldn’t hear it over the chorus, his lips twitch out a laugh, and you realize he accidentally stepped on your foot. You place yours in between his to avoid further contact and find your body pressed to his, arms now draped passed his shoulders.

“Are you having a good time tonight?” The DJ’s call echoes through the room. Your arms slide back to Joon’s shoulders as though to brace onto reality. Joon’s eyebrows shoot up onto his forehead, now visible with his quaffed hair. He looks confused, despite his hooded eyes. You smile back, realizing the song ended. Leaning to his ear, you call out “Imma go get another drink.”

Walking off the floor, you shake your head. How close you just were, how hot Joon’s hands felt on your hips, his skin touching yours, the heat still mapped on your body.

Luckily, Jin’s wide shoulders and pale pink shirt stand out at the bar in a crowd of blacks and navy blues. “Hey!” You call out. He turns at your voice, smiling with some colorful drink in his hand. You shimmy towards him, and he tries to shimmy back. As you make your way closer, you start doing the Egyptian, and Jin’s distinct laugh can be heard in choppy guffaws above the club music.

But before you reach him, your body goes rigid. A firm hand gropes the back of your ass, invading your privacy, ruining whatever freedom you had been feeling previously. Jin’s smile immediately drops. You see him reach for the counter to push out of the chair. You swerve, ready to counter your offender with a similar invasion.

“What the fuck?” You shout, only to find the man much, much bigger than you. Despite your rage, fight-or-flight kicks in. That terrible, sickening feeling of weakness knowing you are not as strong as him were he to continue to use actions and not words. He smiles down at you, teeth gleaming, eyes hooded, hands sloppily flailing by his chest.

“Nice ass,” he slurs. Your face heats in rage, your fists ball up. But as you open your mouth to talk, someone else slaps the guy on the back and drags him along. As he moves out of view, you see Namjoon approaching from the dance floor. He chews his cheek and squares his shoulders.

You shuffle over to Jin, shaking your head when he looks at you concerned. As frustrating as it was, it’s expected in clubs here. It may be their regular bar, but not tonight.

You glance around for Ji Eun and Ji Woo, hoping they’re okay. Taehyung and Ji Eun are at a couch. They make a devastatingly attractive pair, eyes turning (or maybe they are confused as to why Tae is in dress slacks at a club). Ji Woo seems to be hanging with Jungkook and Yoongi. By instinct, all the girls have drifted but stayed close to a guy… just in case.

You shake your head, not ready for the internal rant on objectification and feminism fueled by alcohol.

Namjoon, on the other hand, isn’t as consolable. “Did what I think just happen, happen?” He shouts, leaning in between you and Jin.

“It’s whatever. I can fight my own battles,” you shrug it off. You leave out that you definitely think you couldn’t fight that battle without pepperspray. Namjoon still chews his lip as he looks down at you, but Jin just wraps an arm around him.

“This is why we can never leave her alone,” he winks, passing you his drink. You take it and drain the whole thing.

“Oh come on, that’s not what I meant! Take pity on the cripple!” Jin cries and purses his lips at the empty glass. You and Namjoon start to laugh.

To your surprise, Yoongi magically appears. “Oh, so you’re a cripple again?” He taunts. Now that he’s closer, you can tell he’s in a new outfit, dressed in all black from head-to-toe, only his eyes peeking out from a face mask. Honestly, he looks like he may be here to also cause a scene.

He lifts a finger to his face mask and tugs it down a bit. His lips are red and swollen. “Where’s the dancer?” He looks past you all at the crowd.

Giggling, you grab Yoongi’s hand and lead your antisocial roommate onto the dance floor packed with people to find the only ray of sunshine in this dark, damp club.

After Yoongi starts trying to hold a whole conversation with a spinning and pop-locking Hope halfway on the floor, you return to the bar to see how Ji Eun is doing. She catches your eye and holds up two fingers, motioning to Tae.

You nod and head back to the bar yet again. It’s packed with people, but you manage to find an opening between some girls who have taken up shop near the VIP tables.

Even with space, there isn’t much room to wave a hand or attract a bartender's attention. You look down your top, then scold yourself. You can’t be sexually harassed and then use your tits to get a bartender’s attention.

“We gotta go,” Jin materializes next to you. His arm tugs on your shoulder. You shrug him off, leaning onto the bar to locate a bartender. His voice comes close to your ear, “Now.”

You glance over your shoulder and realize his eyes look panicked, no blush despite how close you two are. Ji Eun appears wrapped up in her conversation with Taehyung. So you nod and throw some cash hopefully equivalent to how much you’ve spent on the counter.

“What’s going on?” You shout, the club getting quieter as you make it to the entrance. Jin doesn’t say anything. Namjoon waits by the entrance already, looking both ways. He scuffles along next to you once Jin pulls you both through the door and to the car.

“I don’t know what happened!” Namjoon whines at Jin, who doesn’t bother turning around as he opens the back seat door and pushes you both in. Your head spins at all the shuffling and throwing. Jin hops into the front seat and slaps the steering wheel.

Namjoon stares at his fist. Sweat forms on your forehead.

“ _What_ happened?” You say at club-music-is-still-playing volume. Namjoon continues to clench and unclench his fist, and Jin looks back through the rearview window of his car seat.

“He punched that guy,” Jin says, gripping the steering wheel but not turning the car on.

“I punched that guy,” Namjoon rushes out, nodding his head quickly.

You look at Namjoon who is now grabbing his fist. “You punched _that guy_?”

“I don’t like violence,” he shouts at his fist.

Jin sighs and grabs the back of the passenger seat, rounding on both of you. “Macho man over here punched that guy who groped you. Real hero,” he adds with an eye roll. “He went to get his buddies so I gathered the monsters.”

“You punched… the guy that groped me?” You couldn’t manage to get your voice back to a normal volume, probably from the leftover panic of not knowing it was something this simple.

Something this chivalrous. Was that even the right word?

“It’s been established that he punched the guy, you drunk musketeers!” Jin shouts at the same volume as you.

The car starts to roll backward, and Jin stares past both of you, arm on the passenger headrest. You shake your head, leaning back in the seat. What a turn of events.

“This is why it’s always fun when we all hang out,” you murmur, eyes closed. “Always a good story.”

“Indeed,” Namjoon laughs next to you.

“This story better not end with my car getting keyed,” Jin grits from the front, turning out of the parking lot.

As you peel off back towards Namjoon’s apartment, you text the others. Apparently, Jungkook, Hope, and Yoongi had already dipped. But Ji Eun, Taehyung, and Ji Woo just send a series of selfies back to the group message.

“They all look so damn good what the fuck,” you groan after selfie number 7.

“You look just as good,” Namjoon smiles big then covers his mouth, leaning into the window. The accelerator picks up. You put the phone away, the bright light making you dizzy.

“Hey,” Namjoon says, staring out the window. “Do you remember when your car broke down over there?”

“Oh, the glorious days when I also had a car?” you reminisce. “Yeah, you came but complained the whole time.

“I help you out a lot don’t I?”

“Punching people in the face is quite the leap from changing a tire,” Jin chuckles from the front seat, meeting your gaze in the rearview mirror. “Remember how I helped you study with delicious, chocolate stress-food?” Namjoon scoffs, crossing his arms.

You giggle. “Is this a competition?”

Before either of them can answer, something dawns on you.

“Shit,” you gasp, grabbing at your pockets. “Shit, I think I left my keys at Joon’s.”

“Oh?” Joon sounds intrigued. A sloppy smile covers his face. Jin glances at you from the review again.

“Dammit, I hope so. It’s that or the club.”

“We can turn around and check.” Jin puts his blinker on.

“No, let’s check Joon’s first, we can walk back from there.”

“Okay, I’ll drop y’all off and wait,” Jin turns back into his lane.

“You’ve got to get up early, and won’t be back when I leave the house. We can’t leave it unlocked,” you argue.

“Okay, let’s check the club first then,” Jin swerves back into the turn lane.

“Nah, nah,” Joon waves, his hand falling a little heavy with alcohol. “I live close. If they aren’t at my place, we’ll walk back to the bar.”

Jin starts to argue again, but you already answer, “Sounds good.” He pauses, then faces front, passing the three or four more houses until you reach Joon’s complex.

“I’ll wait out here,” Jin says when the two of you stumble out of the backseat.

You lean your cheek against the side of his driver's mirror. The cold feels good on your hot skin. “No, no,” you smile and wag your finger, “if we gotta go back to the club, it’ll keep you up all night. Just go back.”

You blow a small kiss as you twirl towards Joon’s apartment, “I’ll be back soon.”

You and Joon giggle as you walk up the stairs. “Tires,” Joon says on three steps from the door. “Punching guys,” he says on two steps from the door. “And now your keys,” he turns to you on the last step. You’re in front of his door, and something about your positioning seems vaguely familiar.

“It’s like I’m your personal superman, New Girl,” he finally ends with. He’s got a crooked smile, one dimple pressing deep into his cheek. You want to reach out and poke it.

Instead, you laugh, turning the handle to his apartment and shrugging your shoes off. Damn, there are a lot of shoes in this entryway. Do you usually trip this much? The whole place is quiet save for some muffling behind closed doors.

“Not here,” you call, pilfering through the pillows and looking over counters. You turn again but lose your balance. Namjoon’s right behind you, holding you up when you start to fall.

A slight jingling sounds from inside your jacket.

You and Joon look at your jacket, then look at each other.

“Oop,” you say, lips curling in between your teeth. You snort, laughing hard. Joon grabs onto you again as you both lose your balance. You reach for the kitchen counter, turning to stable yourself and find a glass for something sobering.

“I can’t believe the keys are in-” Joon stumbles behind you, hands smacking the counter on either side of you. Now he’s the one laughing.

You turn, ready to ask if he’s okay.

His face is inches from yours. You stare into his eyes, black in the dim lighting. You go to move but Joon thinks you are falling again. He steadies you by your hips. This whole situation seems vaguely familiar.

His hands stay put, content on your waist, your back pressing against the counter. Your own hands are still raised from looking for a glass. You gently lay them forward on Joon’s damp Tshirt. Joon’s licks his lips, stares at you with the same eyes. Are you dreaming again?

A kiss. It was fast. So fast you didn’t even blink. But it definitely happened. He’s back in the exact same position, but you know he just leaned forward, still felt the tingle from the soft press of his lips, now one tucked under his front teeth.

He looks down at your lips then back at you, seeming to also come to terms with what he just did. “Was that…” He takes a steadying breath, his fingers drumming against your hips. “Okay?”

“Yes.”

His hands glide up your back, one around your waist and one into your hair, pulling you into him. Your hips drag against his, own hands coming up from his chest grasp at his jaw.

A body that’s so familiar yet foreign against yours. He sucks your bottom lip into his mouth, ghosts his tongue across your bottom lip. You respond immediately, tongue behind his teeth, grabbing at the back of his neck as he starts stepping backward. 

You fall onto the opposite wall with a thud. He nibbles at your lip, both of you laughing, albeit nervously. He steps to the side, heading towards his room. His hands are causing your shirt to ride up, and you can feel everything, almost see it with your eyes closed. Your head is dizzy with the alcohol and the border of reality as he sucks at your neck, hand on his doorknob and your hand reaching for his-- 

Someone in Joon’s room screams.

Which, naturally, causes you and Joon to both scream, unlatching. You fall to the floor and Joon grabs onto the door, practically swinging with it.

“GET OUT!” a voice screams from Joon’s bed.

“THIS IS MY ROOM!” Joon shouts back without releasing the door.

Time pauses. It feels like your whole body heaves with each breath you take, hands gripping at Joon’s carpet while the screaming talking blob comes into shape.

“Jungkook?” You ask.

“Noona?” He asks back. All three of you trade glances.

“Are you hiding from them, too?” Jungkook asks, folding the covers down.

“Hiding from…?” Joon starts. But then, you can hear. The moaning. The unabashed, uncensored, clearly unaware anyone is home moaning. In your own flustering, you’d both missed that someone else was already home.

“Is that…”

“It’s Yoongi and Hope,” Jungkook cries, rubbing his hands over his face. “It’s right next to my room. So I came here, and then I heard them in the hall-” you can see the color drain from Joon’s face even in the dark “-and I thought they were gonna come in here for round 23 or something…” Jungkook covers his ears.

“Wait,” he shakes his head, “What are you two doing here? Where’s everyone else?”

You and Joon look at each other.

“Same thing as you” “Looking for my keys” you say at the same time. You take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, cutting Joon with a glare that says _Do. Not. Say. Anything._

“We came back to get my keys then tried to hide from Yoongi and Hope,” you say, standing to your feet and straightening your clothes.

“Well, come join,” Jungkook says, rolling to the middle and patting both sides.

“Are you inviting me to my bed?” Namjoon scowls. He closes the door but still walks stiffly.

You take a wide walk around the bed to lay as far from Joon as possible. “Damn, your hair is all fucked up dude,” Jungkook comments to Joon as he gets on the other side. You cough a little.

You tuck in next to Jungkook who folds the covers up. He snuggles in, tucking his arms over the sheets. He’s right, you can’t hear anything here with the door shut.

“Isn’t this cute? In a weird incestuous family way?” Jungkook asks, turning from side to side to address both of you.

“Incestuous?” the word almost breaks in Joon’s mouth.

“Cause you’re mom and dad, and I’m here. It’s like a family sleepover,” Jungkook giggles. Maybe he’s a little drunk, too. Drunk enough to forget. “While the pervy uncles fuck in a closet.”

“Okay, well, goodnight!” You laugh, snuggling in next to Jungkook. He rolls over, tucking himself up in the sheets. You take a deep breath, closing your eyes. When you feel your heart rate settle, it only skyrockets again when you open them.

Joon’s laying across from Jungkook, turned towards you. His head’s peaking just over the fluff of Jungkook’s hair. Resting on his arm as a makeshift pillow, dark eyes peer over at you. Questioning.

 _Shit_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, the second version of this story had smut in chapter 3 and now we just got to a kiss so welcome to the END OF SMUTLESS ANGST y'all. Let me know what you think on my tumblr [ JoopiterJoon](https://joopiterjoon.tumblr.com)  
> Outro: In the Dark (By Camille Cabeo)


	7. Friend is a Four Letter Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are okay. Things are good. They're fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that one episode before the end of a season where absolutely everything hits the fan? That's this chapter.  
> Intro: Friend is a Four Letter Word (Cake)

 

Your knees ache from the uphill power-walk towards Ji Eun’s part-time job at one of the many coffee shops surrounding the campus.

All around you, the campus comes to life. Why on earth are so many people awake at 8am on a Saturday? And why does every other girl who still wears their party dress look at you with comradery in their sleepy smiles? You tug at the collar of Jungkook’s hoodie. Maybe picking a man’s jacket wasn’t the best way to hide your clothes from last night.

Not that it mattered. You hide them from Ji Eun, even though you need to talk to her about exactly why you are still in these clothes.

When you push open the door to the cafe, Ji Eun pauses whatever concoction she’s making at the espresso machine. Her jaw drops. “Did you have a one night stand?”

You can feel the heat in your face. “The fuck? How did you know?” You sniff yourself, checking your outfit one more time in the reflection of the door.

“It’s 90 degrees and you’re in a hoodie,” Ji Eun nods.

“What Mentalist shit are you on?” you groan, sliding into a bar stool. You could have gotten away with it if you didn’t give yourself away. Ji Eun giggles, finishes the drink, and comes to your side of the bar.

“So,” Ji Eun leans forward, propping her elbows on the counter. You know she’s on her tiptoes on the other side. “Which one was it?”

“Which one? Sounds like their objects,” you deflect.

“Most men treat women like objects,” Ji Eun waves off, turning to give a customer their Irish coffee. “Which one of the boys.” She clarifies, then leans in again, waving her finger to the tune “eenie-meanie-minie-moe.”

“This is not fair because I have not taken time to come to terms with it myself,” I say behind the lid of my coffee. Ji Eun lets out a moan, rolling on the counter in exasperation. 

“I can’t even tell who it is from all your dodging.” She returns to the register, takes an order, and messes with the machine again. “I take it that means you haven’t talked it out yet,” she says, checking the clock behind her.

Only 8:30am now.

“No, I left before either of them woke up,” you stretch both your hands on the counter, remembering Joon’s sprawled out form next to Jungk-

_Crash._

With a start, you almost fall out of the stool. Ji Eun stares at you, hands still in position for the milk jug she had been holding. “ _Either?_ ” she chokes out. “You fucked BOTH of them?” Two other people at the bar turn to look your direction. You reach to cover her mouth, but she takes a step back, a huge smile growing on her face. “You dirty, dirty girl,” she cackles.

“No!” You shout, then tuck your shoulders in when one more person at the bar starts to listen in on the conversation. “God, no, I was making out with Joon and-”

“Knew it.”

“-AND” you whisper-shout, “-and Jungkook was in his room!” You knock your head against the counter once or twice for good measure. “I don’t think he saw.”

“Okay, that’s very concerning, a child seeing his parents in action, very scarring,” Ji Eun considers while she steams some milk. She finishes the drink while you continue to roll your head back and forth on the counter. “But can we get back to the small part where you said you and Joon _made out_?”

You throw your head back with another groan. You aren’t even hungover. You weren’t that drunk. What were you doing? “Shit happens. And we’ll talk about it, and things will be fine.” Ji Eun raises an eyebrow. “We were drunk, things happen, people make mistakes.”

“Uh-huh,” Ji Eun crosses her arms, turning back to the register. “Does Jin know you didn’t come home?”

“What does that matter?” You hadn’t even been home yet. 

Oh god. You realize you never found your keys.

“I really wasn’t sure if you were a dumb bitch or a rude bitch, but I’m really going for dumb bitch now,” Jimin hums, the back door to the coffee shop swinging open as he pushes through and adjusts his apron.

You stare at him as he starts to fuss with things in the fridge. “Why are you here?”

“Because a coffee shop job fits my aesthetic,” Jimin snaps, turning to look over his shoulder with a wink.

“Jimin’s actually right on this one, even if he is biased against you,” Ji Eun sighs. You pull Jungkook’s hoodie over your head, and Ji Eun pulls the strings until the world around you disappears. Then, the delicious, bitter smell of coffee drifts up from under your nose.

“Thanks,” you sigh.

“She’s a dumb bitch,” Jimin reaffirms for good measure, and you stick your tongue out in the general direction of his voice.

You peek from the hood and look at Ji Eun, eyes pleading. She stares back, examining your face.

“It’s nothing,” you say to yourself than her. Something looks confused in Ji Eun’s expression. Then she turns, nodding to the machine. It’s short, cute.

“Okay,” is all she says, and the three of you drop it.

* * *

 

You find things to do until Yoongi should be awake. You don’t want to ask Joon and Jungkook to look for your keys, and you know Jin is out at class. Since most of your graduate work is saved online, you hole up in a back corner of the library until the afternoon. Luck is on your side when no students appear or at least acknowledge your shabby existence.

The door swings open when you knock. A gummy smile creases up to Yoongi’s eyes, but his expression immediately drops when he sees it’s you. He turns and heads back to the kitchen.

“Honestly, I didn’t know if you’d be here or at Jungkook’s,” you say. 

“I could say the same to you,” Yoongi leans against the fridge with a bottle of water. He tosses you another. “Stay thirsty, am I right?”

You mouth back his words with extra sass. It isn’t until he’s got the bottle to his lips, head angled to chug it down, that you notice the colossal purple bruise on his neck.

You try to touch the dark hickey, but he grabs your arm. He slides his grip to your hand. His mouth is twisted in annoyance, but his eyes are sparkling as he swings your hands back and forth.

“That’s darker than Jin’s ankle, boy,” you tease. “Did y’all makeup or did he fight you?”

Yoongi shrugs. “I kinda wanted a bit of both,” he says.

You snap your hand back, holding it, scandalized. “Okay, and I hope you washed after,” you wipe your hand on his shirt.

“I did if you did,” Yoongi smirks. “Had breakfast with Joon and Jungkook. They were wondering where you were.”

Your face grows warm and Yoongi notices. “Damn, I have so much grading to do,” you shout with a big stretch before Yoongi can remark.

You hide in your room, clicking between student essays and social media. When you finally hear the door open and Jin’s end-of-day groaning in the living room, you want nothing more than to rush out and have him smile and both of you eat whatever leftovers he’s brought.

But you can’t.

Your fingers still over the keyboard. Why not? Anytime you have a bad day, Jin finds some edible way to make it better. But Ji Eun’s words float back to you: _Does Jin know you didn’t come home?_

So you lay there on your bed, staring at your books but reading no words, waiting to hear Jin head into his room. Your phone buzzes next to you, and you almost fling yourself from the bed after listening so intently for Jin.

_Namjoon_

_U gonna get ur keys?_

_Or nah?_

You sigh, heaving off your bed. You really were hoping to get 24 hours before having to deal with this, but you guess not.

Namjoon has his usual smile plastered on his face when you arrive, eyes disappearing. You try to smile back but almost feel the awkwardness misconstrue it. He laughs lightly, rubbing at his neck.

“Hey,” he says, wandering into his kitchen. He’s in jeans but the same top as last night. Looks like everyone took an easy day to enjoy the whole weekend.

“Hey,” you greet back. You shove your hands in your hoodie pockets, looking around the place like somehow it had changed since last night.

Joon gets two beers and wanders back in, one outstretched towards you.

“We need to talk about what happened,” the words leave your mouth before you even get the courage to say them. Thank goodness.

Namjoon’s outstretched arm drops a little, taking in your expression. He sets both the beers on the coffee table and sits on the couch.

He fiddles with the drawstrings on his sweats. “Yeah,” he glances up at you, judging your expression. You are pretty obvious. Not sitting down next to him, but standing in the middle of a living room you’d been sprawled across.

“I mean...” Namjoon speaks again, twiddling his thumbs together. The pause finally sends you from nervous to wanting to get it over with.

“We were pretty drunk,” you say quickly. The laugh you give makes you cringe. Namjoon looks up at you again, smile faltering. He’s trying to read you. He tongues the inside of his cheek, rolling his lips together.

“I guess,” he says slowly, “we were.”

You shrug again and sit down next to him. Try to be casual. “Yeah, you’d just, you know, been my knight in shining armor, beating up that guy. And we were drunk. And damn,” you throw your head back onto the sofa. “If we aren’t all stressed,” you groan.

Another pause. You refuse to look anywhere but the ceiling. His eyes are on you.

“Totally,” Namjoon says after a moment. He settles farther into the couch. “Definitely felt like a reward for my chivalry.”

You peak over at him. “Sex isn’t some kind of consolation prize.”

Namjoon raises an eyebrow, slouching onto the armrest to judge you. “You definitely just made it out to be.”

“I mean it’s like that article in Women’s and Gender Studies 1103 where it says sex is better as a gift or invitation.”

Namjoon cocks an eyebrow, rubbing his chin. “So what’s happening for my birthday?”

“Birthday party?” You both look over the edge of the couch. Hope is sauntering in. You and Joon look at each other and laugh.

Good, normal. Back to how things are.

“Yeah, a party, eventually,” You clarify.

“What about the party last night when you and Joon snogged in the hallway?” Hope calls from the kitchen. Joon chokes and your whole body gets hot.

“I can’t believe you heard us over your own shenanigans,” Joon grits out, his eyes daggers.

“Actually, yeah,” you remember the purple bruising up and down Yoongi’s throat, trying to see if Hope had the same. “How on earth do you know?”

Hope busies himself with a beer. “How would I not know? That fucking screaming from Jungkook. He may be an idiot but I know why two people stumble into a bedroom at 2am.”

Joon breathes a sigh of relief which you don’t really think fits the situation. “It was just fun,” you tell Hope, punching Joon in the shoulder.

“Good fun,” Joon murmurs, nodding his head.

You don’t realize things still feel a little strange until you are back in your own apartment. Jin is on the couch, staring at his phone, without the TV on. You take off your shoes, add them to the pile, and start to head towards your room. It’s already late.

“Get your keys?” Jin calls. You freeze, unsure of why you feel your heart beating a bit faster.

“Yep.”

“You and Namjoon talked?” he asks, slinging his arm over the couch to look back at you.

You quirk your head at him. “Um, well, he gave me the keys?” There’s no way he could be referring to what happened, right? He has no way of knowing.

“How’d that go?” Jin presses. You quirk your head to the other side, eyes narrowing. Did Yoongi say something?

“It went fine?” you add the tone of a question on the end.

Jin nods, standing and stretching. “Okay, well, I’m going to go work on my art exhibition.”

You follow him with your eyes as he passes. “Art exhibition?”

“The one in my bedroom,” he hangs onto his doorframe. “It’s me, I’m the art.” You chuckle, but he just winks and heads to his room.

* * *

You feel responsible.

Joon hasn’t texted you since your talk. Then again, you haven’t texted him. But you made it weird. You don’t know how, but you definitely left their feeling weird. And now he’s not talking to you. 

Plus, you can’t find a reason to speak to Jin after that. Nothing comes to mind, except one thing. 

Guilt. 

Why? You’re not sure. These things happen all the time when friends get drunk.

Over the next week, everyone is busy anyway. It’s reading week. And thankfully, you have an excuse for why you aren’t texting anyone.

Not that you need to. 

Somehow, you find yourself with Ji Eun and Taehyung a lot. Ji Eun had taken a liking to him. The boy could befriend a potted plant. Jungkook came around a few times, and it feels strange to have the four of you hanging out again, Jungkook able to form quick coherent statements with Ji Eun, no stuttering or awkward laughing.

Even though everyone is making plans, you can almost feel the avoidance. Like you are all actually planning or trading information about what’s happening and keeping up with any weird tracks crossing.

Not that you even think tracks are needing to be crossed at the moment. But something seems off.

It could also be the massive amount of stress from making your students’ exams and preparing for your own. Which is what you are doing now.

Or should be doing.

Rolling around on your bed, surrounded by chips, books, and two different laptops, you can’t manage to do anything. Your brain is fried, and no amount of coffee, sugar, or carbs can save your consciousness. You feel like your last computer that kept restarting at the loading screen before it finally died.

You stare at your phone for the third time, hoping someone will contact you. Everyone yesterday had already said they were too busy.

You huff out loud, smacking your feet on the bed. If Jin was home, you could both distract yourself. Complaining and beer would be an easy way to fill this awkward void. 

Namjoon is at the library, working on who knows what. You think of texting him, but something says no. Something tells you now not to be alone with him.

Probably the awkwardness. Still, you check your phone again.

Lots of things felt awkward lately. When you all got beers, something jittered inside you. You found your eyes running over Joon’s thighs, always in loose shorts for some goddamn reason. When Jin and Yoongi sat together in the living room, you glanced away from Yoongi’s scowl for taking his chair and not sitting next to Jin.

It wasn’t that you were avoiding anything. Or you are. It’s just… you’re not sure.

As your eyes trail over all the open books and texts in front of you, your mind isn’t willing to cooperate with your frantic to-do list.

Your phone finally buzzes, you snatch it up.

Just an email notification from the third student asking if they really have to take the final if they have a C in the class. You find yourself appreciating Taehyung’s ability to actually read, making him your favorite student for reasons other than that he restocks beer when he comes over.

You roll onto your back and stare at the phone. You open Jungkook’s chat. Jungkook says that when he is stressed, he runs.

You own plenty of Nike shorts, running leggings, but you do not run. Your mind is busy doing that for you.

But right now, you want them to trade places.

_You_

_Wanna run?_

You plop the phone onto your chest, but it vibrates before it leaves your fingers.

_Kookie_

_.........._

_Did sum1 take ur phone?_

You scoff. Indeed, your suggestion is unbelievable.

_You_

_B there in 15_

You roll up to Jungkook’s door already out of breath from the sweltering walk to his place. He flings the door open, not even having you come in, and hands you a Gatorade bottle. You want to catch your breath from the walk over but he’s already trotting down the stairs, chuckling to himself.

“I never, _ever_ thought this would happen,” he says, stretching his arms while you both walk back up to the sidewalk.

“Yes, you’ve made me aware of my workout routine several times,” you remark, copying his stretches. What are these supposed to do, anyway? “You aren’t even using your arms, why do you need to stretch them?”

“You can’t call not-working-out a routine,” Jungkook smirks. He starts jogging in place, so you do the same.

“It’s so hot,” you moan.

“Yep,” Jungkook just smiles, nose scrunched up.

About 15 minutes later, you are both sitting on the grass about a mile from your apartment. You chug Jungkook’s Gatorade after your own. You fall back into the grass next to the sidewalk. Jungkook’s busy grabbing his sides, also gasping for air, but from his laughter.

“I can’t believe you tried to keep up with me,” he coughs out.

“I’ve never done this before!” You heave. “I thought you were trying to go at a pace I could match!”

“I wanted to see what you could do. I didn’t think you’d actually run the whole mile,” he wipes his eyes, shaking his hair out of his face. “It’s honestly impressive.”

You try to sit up to smack at him, but it ends up being weak flails of your hands. Jungkook flops back next to you. The scent of baked grass surrounds you both.

“Hey, Noona,” Jungkook says. You turn to the side. Obstructed by grass, Jungkook’s side profile still burns with the afternoon sun. His eyebrows are high, eyes closed as he soaks in the weather. “You know, you’re pretty awesome.” He rolls his head to the side, opening his big brown eyes. With the reflecting sun, you can differentiate the chocolate brown from the pupils.

“I do know,” you giggle, looking back at the sun. You shade your face, watching the way the tree branches dance across your skin.

“Like, more awesome than you think,” Jungkook says a bit quieter. You grimace at your hand.

“But sometimes,” ah, here it is. You drop your hand and send Jungkok an accusatory glance. “Sometimes, you not so awesome.”

You sit up on your elbows to give your glare more power. “Did you not do well on a paper I helped you with?”

Jungkook looks back at you for a second. There’s something playing in his eyes, beyond the rays of light. He also props up on his elbows, level with you again. “Do you remember when we almost made out?”

You scoff, and a light pink dusts Jungkook’s cheeks. “When I almost kissed you in a drunken daze, yes.”

Jungkook’s tongue prods at his cheek. “Right,” he turns back towards the sun, stretching his arms up high. “Remember how, afterward, we talked it out?”

You smile, remembering how cute he looked fumbling over his thoughts. “Yeah.”

“I think it was really good. To get everything out in the open. No talking behind people’s backs,” he chews on the inside of his mouth, twisting his lips up.

“Wait, what do you mean talking behind people’s backs?”

His eyes dart over to yours, then he sits back up. You only see the back of his tank top. “I know what happened that night we were all in Namjoon’s room.”

Wow, it suddenly feels really cold.

“Noona, you and Namjoon need to-”

Before he can finish, you stretch towards your toes, grabbing at your quads and bouncing back up.

“Wow, this is running thing sure is tough. I think I’m good after a rest,” You try to mimic one of Jungkook’s earlier arm stretches. He only bends his knees and slouches forward, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “Don’t look at your elders that way,” you stick your tongue out at him.

Jungkook shakes his head, clambering to his feet. “They say you can’t have beauty and brains,” he hums, looking you over. Before you can reach out to smack him, he adds on, “You don’t have to talk about it with me. But you can’t ignore it.”

“We’re fine,” you say with some finality. This is why you risked running at all. To distract yourself from this. “Namjoon and I are normal. Jin and I are normal. It’s all fine.”

“I never even mentioned Jin,” Jungkook says. Your turn away, stretching your calves. “Okay, that’s all I’m saying about it.” He puts his hands up in surrender, heading back the way you came.

“Hey!” You shout, jogging in place. “Where are you going?”

He waves over his shoulder. “I bet you can barely handle the run back.”

He’s right.

* * *

 The run did nothing for your sanity. Instead, Jungkook’s brought things to the forefront.

He lives with Joon. And he’s telling you to talk to him. Something still isn’t right.

You felt responsible, you should text him. Standing in the kitchen, drinking your third glass of water, you finally bite the bullet.

_You_

_Sup_

Generic, easy. You throw the phone on the table, then pick it up, then put it back down. _Idiot_ , you say to yourself. Nothing to worry about because it’s fine. Of course, things would be a little weird, it’ll blow over.

Frustrated, you slap your phone on the island and start heating water. Maybe tea will calm wherever these nerves are coming from.

While you stand in the kitchen, Jin meanders from his room to fall onto the couch with a groan.

“Studying?” you call. You’re so irritated, you don’t realize ‘til after that this is the first time you’ve both spoken alone without needing to coordinate food and plans.

“Mrgh,” Jin’s muffled voice comes from the sofa after he startles upright. He sits there, facing away from you. Maybe he is trying to fall back asleep.

You check your phone again, nothing.

You look over at Jin. He still hadn’t said anything to you for a day or two. You finish your tea, pick up the cup, and wander over to where he sits. His eyes are closed.

“I made tea,” you say. Jin startles a bit.

“I don’t drink tea,” Jin blinks up at you.

“I’m just starting the conversation,” you groan. The tea tips in the cup as you gingerly slouch onto the couch.

“Since when have you needed a conversation starter other than ‘where’s the food’?” Jin teases. He stretches.

“I just wanted to talk,” you shrug, trying not to eye your phone for the millionth time.

“Need a distraction?” He asks.

“What?” you almost shout, tea sloshing a bit. Jin looks a little startled.

Yoongi wanders in as well, still in pajamas and headphones around his neck. He smacks his lips sleepily as he waddles through the living room.

“What’s the update, Yoongs?” Jin calls.

Yoongi squints over at you. “Getting gayer,” he yawns.

You sling your elbow over the couch to watch him waddle into the kitchen next. “Hows being gay?” 

“Fine,” then, he cocks his head to the side, crossing his arms. “Hey wait, I’m pan. Please respect my identity.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed it,” you shrug, eyeing Jin.

“Yeah, I thought you were a hope-o-sexual,” Jin starts laughing before he finishes. You both high five. Yoongi doesn’t even acknowledge you two as he wanders back into his room with a cold coffee.

You glance down at your phone, the screen only showing the time.

“So is whatever is on your phone the reason you started talking to me?” Jin nudges you. You catch your breath. “You think I didn’t notice?”

You flip the phone in your hands. “I thought you were avoiding me, too.”

“Well, you would have known if you asked,” Jin sounds a bit patronizing. You stick your tongue out and he nudges you again. “It’s so crazy right now I thought I’d just leave you be.”

You nod. You feel stupid. Imagining things. Making them into more than what they were. Jin was just trying to give you what he thought you wanted. He’s always thinking like that.

“So.... what do you keep checking ur phone for?” Jin tries to eye your phone screen. “Waiting for someone?” the tone makes you think he knows. You look over, but he’s only wide eyes in interest.

“It’s been pretty dead,” you sigh. “The group chat.”

“You can always message me separately,” Jin suggests, a small smile on his face.

You pull up his message and type out: 

_i know_

_cook dinner_

Jin’s phone buzzes and he reaches for it, eyebrows furrowing at you. He looks down and scoffs. Then he starts to type. He clears his throat and hits send.

_is it a dinner date_

Your fingers seize up over the screen. You don’t dare glance at Jin.

_haha_

You have a big smile on your face. “Better make something good tonight.”

Jin scoffs again, rolling his eyes. “Everything I make is good, especially compared to you.” You shove him and he overreacts, falling to the side of the couch.

“It’s nice building up our chatlog after you so RUDELY deleted it,” Jin muses after the laughs die down. He’s still typing on his phone, tilted slightly away from you. You look through your own social media, sipping your tea.

_Taehyung_

_suuuuuuh squad_

“Huh, look at that,” you say, opening the chat to send an eye roll gif back to him. Jin looks down at his phone, typing something out, too. “Guess the FBI agent heard me mention the chat.”

Jin barks out a laugh, standing from his seat. “Well, imma keep procrastinating by buying groceries. Good luck,” he adds.

“With what?” you ask.

“Studies?” Jin questions back.

“Oh, duh,” you laugh nervously. What did you think he meant?

You sit on the couch for a bit longer, sipping your tea. Still no message. Granted, you and Joon had seen each other, he just hadn’t… texted you. Like he always did. And now you know the stuff with Jin was your imagination. But why did you imagine all that in the first place?

Everything is fine now. It’s good. You text Joon. Jin and you talked.

Like a sixth sense, you snatch up your phone as it buzzes.

_Kookie_

_PLZ HELP ME_

_APA FORMATTING IS THE DEVILS WORK_

Distraction again. You’re going to regret all this procrastination once grades are due, but Jungkook did just run with you, so you owe him this much.

_You_

_False_

_Jimin did not invent APA_

_Kookie_

_Jimin says he appreciates the compliment_

You groan, realizing the triplets must be together. Is it cheating to help Taehyung, too?

Whatever.

_You_

_Be there in 15_

_Again_

_Kookie_

_ <3<3 _

* * *

 You stumble into the kitchen during exam week to find Jin sitting at the counter, beer in front of him, nodding off. His plump bottom lip pokes out, his chin tucked in. His hair looks frazzled, probably from raking fingers through it while staring down a textbook.

“Hey,” you whisper. He starts a bit, then smiles over at you fondly.

“Hey,” it sounds so soft.

“Why are you still awake?” you ask. You grab a beer from the fridge and settle into the seat opposite him.

“I’m waiting on the rice to finish,” he yawns.

“I can put it up in the Tupperware when it’s done. You can go to bed,” you offer.

Jin gives you a strange expression and you roll your eyes. “You can trust me to at least put rice in a container.”

“I’m really not sure.”

“Well, now I’m feeling tempted to poison it,” you spit back. He chuckles, then heaves himself from the table with a low groan.

“Okay, thanks. Just text me when you do so if I wake up at 3am and don’t hear anything from you, I know the rice cooker is on fire,” he waves as he exits, not giving you a chance for the last word.

When the rice finishes, you pack it up, clean the cooker, and head back to your room. Really, you may be a bad cook, but at least you know the basics.

You change into pajamas, settle into bed, and grab your phone. There’s already a text from Jin.

_Jin_

_Did you forget to text me_

_You_

_How culd i ever_

_Jin_

_Thts not convincing_

_Guess i gotta check_

You giggle at the screen, rolling the sheets back off you and jumping out of bed.

Jin stands in the kitchen, staring at the open fridge. You trot in, knocking on the doorframe. He looks over, his eyes not looking relieved. His expression looks hard in the cold light of the fridge, and he swings the door shut.

“Did I... actually fuck it up?” You feel your heart fall. Damn, maybe you are a bad cook.

“Did you ever talk to Joon about what happened?” Jin asks. You freeze.

“Have I… what?” you don’t think he’s actually asking about this.

“I said,” Jin huffs, his cheeks turning pink in the low light. “Have you talked to Joon about what happened last _month_?”

You stare at Jin.

“When you… when you stayed at his place,” Jin shifts on his feet.

“Oh,” you stretch the word out, fumbling for time. “Um, no.” Jin continues to wait for a response despite what you’ve given. “There’s nothing to talk about. It happens sometimes.” You go past Jin to the fridge, searching for anything that you can take and exit this kitchen. Instead, Jin puts his hand on the fridge door. You jump, spinning against the surface. Jin stands over you, hand by your head, blocking you into the corner of the kitchen.

“It happens sometimes?” Jin asks. His words are flat but there’s a smile on his face. “Just happens between friends?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s what we all are to you? Friends?”

“Yes?”

Jin looks at you and shakes his head, hand dropping from the fridge, but you don’t move to open it. “You are going to ignore everything going on around you, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you say more to yourself than Jin. “It was just a drunken kiss. Things happen. I just want all of us to hang out and have a good time again.”

“Not all of us want to have a good time!” Jin shouts, hands pumping at his sides.

“Do you even hear yourself?” you ask, exasperated. “What? Should we all be miserable?”

“Open your goddamn eyes!” Hearing the swear drop from Jin’s mouth makes your jump. “And realize we like you!”

Your heart starts to race despite your frozen limbs.

“What?” you ask.

Jin’s face is beet red but his eyes are still mad. “Goddammit,” he runs his hands through his hair before waving them about. “Sure, it’s all fun for you, because we are all falling for you! Having a good time but we aren’t!” He takes a few steps back. “Just fucking decide! Is it one or none?”

“I don’t even know what decision I’m supposed to be making here,” you argue, but your voice is quiet, part of your brain knowing this facade can’t stay up for much longer.

Jin actually scoffs, spinning on his heel before turning back to you. “Don’t play dumb. You know I like you. You know Joon likes you. At least Kook got it out of the way early. We’re all here hanging on the edge of our seats.”

“No, we’re friends,” you say to yourself. “Kook even said it was forced maybe you-”

“Oh don’t try and tell me my feelings,” Jin stops you, voice hard. He pauses, takes a deep breath, and looks you in the eyes. “That’s not gonna work anymore.”

He steps closer, and you flinch, his approach signaling the end of all your avoidance. Every step closer bringing to the surface the cracks in your friend group you’ve been ignoring. The way everyone is breaking off. How the two of them haven’t been hanging out in the same space. The looks the others give each other when you’re around.

Don’t break it, you think, Don’t break what we have.

“It’s gonna break one way or another,” Jin says out loud. You grip your cup even harder. “Dating one of us isn’t gonna break the group up any more than ignoring it has. But we need to know if you even want to date one of us.”

Jin puts a hand on your shoulder. It’s soothing. You don’t want him to take it off. “There’s a thousand mixed signals and you gotta clear this up.”

“Why me?” your voice quivers. You look up, relieved to see his eyes soft again.

“Because we’ve done our part,” Jin says with a small smile. “You know how we feel, now we just wanna know how you feel.” Jin pulls back. He has more to say, but he heads out of the room, shaking his head. 

You fall back onto the fridge. The house is suffocating. All you did was make a joke about rice and it turned into an ultimatum you’d been subconsciously avoiding for months.

Your heart is racing. The room feels so thick, despite the cold fridge against your back.

You can’t stay here. You can’t go to Kook’s either.

You don’t know where to go.

You rush to your room, grab your jacket, and head to the door to shove your feet into any shoes you can find. Before you can start possibly thinking of where to go, Ji Eun gives you an escape.

_Ji Eun_

_Plz cum ovr_

_I need u_

Distract yourself by helping others, your mind tells you.

“Fuck off,” you tell yourself out loud, and reach for the door handle as you let her know you are on the way. 

You love Ji Eun. She’s her own chapter in your graduate school survival guide. She is always down to study, has a remarkable ability to be too nice, and always encourages you.

But, Ji Eun is also Ji Eun. There’s a reason she’s dating a kind-of-actress.

She’s dramatic.

When you get to her door, you hear her shout “come in!” from somewhere in the apartment. You twist the knob, walking into her small one bedroom. The whole place smells like her, something that made you melt when she first invited you over years ago. Now, you walk right into the bedroom, knowing where to expect her.

When you come into view, she curls tighter around her pillow and sniffs. Her eyes are a little puffy, but she stopped crying awhile ago. Now she’s in mad mode, conspiracy mode.

“She seeing her, I know it,” Ji Eun cries into her hands. Yep, conspiracy mode. You sigh in exasperation. 

You pull her hands from her face, holding them gently in your own. Her tiny balled up form slides towards you as you sink into the fluffy duvet cover. She doesn’t look at you, choosing to angrily glare at your fingers as she fiddles with them. Somehow her tantrum compliments her childish features. You rub your thumbs over her wrists.

“Ji Eun, you are being ridiculous,” you have no nicer words to think of. “She’s busy, you’re just feeling strained. It’s okay. You can trust her. She came out to the world for you.” You give a soft smile as Ji Eun’s eyes start to well again.

“Only because I asked her. And it’s not like it’s bad or anything. Guys like it, if anything, it helped.” Oh boy, you think. She’s passed the point of rationale.

“Ji Eun…” You say, trying to think of anything to help the situation.

“And you know what? I do everything. Ask her out, text her first, try to make plans,” she starts spitting the words. You look around the room, trying to think of a distraction.

“It’s not that hard,” she huffs, tossing the pillow aside and sitting upright. She spins on you and you jump a little. “You do all those things. For anyone. You check on me, help me, text me. She can’t even do that for just me!” What’s the thing they say when people are panicking? See two things, smell three things… You look for anything to serve as a distraction, used to turning on the TV and letting her blubber over a movie until she’s distracted.

“Kiss me.”

“Haha, okay” You laugh, still looking around the room. Ji Eun squeezes your hands, sitting up straighter and wiping the hair out of her face.

“No. I mean it. Kiss me,” she repeats, her voice stronger. You pull back but she grabs your wrists instead. You look at her in bewilderment and her eyes are wide, tears still brimming.

“Okay, that’s not a good idea,” you force a laugh. But Ji Eun shifts from her knees to start leaning forward. You lean away and fall back on the bed. Ji Eun plants her hands on either side of your face. Her short hair frames her puffy cheeks from up above.

“I know you liked me,” Ji Eun coaxes gently. Even though it had been months, your cheeks heat at her actually acknowledgment of your feelings.

“Yeah, but I got over it,” you say, grabbing at one of her wrists. You don’t want to be rough, but not too gentle either.

“What if I said I liked you, too,” your breath caught in your throat. “Would you kiss me then?”

You scan Ji Eun’s face. Her eyes still made your own dilate. Her lips still looked just as soft. You still find her incredibly attractive. But that’s it. There’s nothing anymore. She’s just a friend. Your heart races only in fear of all the complications and possibilities for the current situation.

As you battle with yourself, Ji Eun bends toward you. Your mind spins as it fights between opportunity, rationale, and confusion. You don’t know what to say.

“Don’t,” you finally muster in a whisper, her lips inches from your own, her hair tickling your cheeks.

Ji Eun stops. Her mouth bobs, eyes flooding with clarity as she looks at you, pinned beneath her, asking her to think. Her eyes start to well with tears and her head drops to your shoulder. Her body completely collapses on yours as another sob rocks through her body.

“I’m terrible,” she cries. You stare at the ceiling.

_We’re all losing everyone_ , you think.

“Hey,” you shove at her shoulders. “Come on, it’s fine. It was a weak moment. I’m pretty hot, it happens to everyone.”

Ji Eun sniffles and pulls herself back. It’s incredibly adorable when she wipes her nose. You sit up on your elbows.

“It’s not that,” Ji Eun says. “You don’t even know. You don’t know how great you are. You’re here with me, you’re keeping my standards for me. You watch over the boys. You take care of our sanity. You make sacrifices for yourself for our sake. And you’ve got all this other shit going on and I’m dragging you into mine.”

You blink, not sure what to say at the barrage of compliments to your character. “Um, I guess…”

Ji Eun breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth. She sits back, straddling your thighs. Even after the previous moment, you find yourself resting your hands on them, stroking the skin in a soothing pattern. “Okay, I think that was dramatic enough that I have everything out of my system.”

You laugh at the way she regains her composure. Ji Eun rolls off your lap and to the edge of the bed. “Thanks for keeping me from being an idiot.” She murmurs, turning around to get off the bed. “And… I’m sorry I couldn’t return your feelings.”

“That’s a thing of the past,” you reassure her.

“Because of Joon?” she asks, turning to look back at you. This time you kick your feet over the bed.

“I don’t know,” you shrug.

“But he knows,” Ji Eun says. “He knows and he knows you know.”

You stare at the floor, gripping at the comforter. You give a small nod. “He probably does,” you give a small laugh.

“No, I mean,” Ji Eun pulls out her phone and shows you a group chat. Your eyes scan some of the visible names. Your mind blanks as you process what your fingers scroll through. A groupchat you aren’t in. A group chat where you see your own name several times.

“I mean we all know. Like everything. It’s been a fucking mess,” she shrugs. “Taehyung let it slip and I said he had to add me, just in case, you know, they bad mouth you or something. Jin and Joon got in a huge fight a few hours ago in there. I saw it before In Na called.”

So that’s it. That explains the looks, the comments, Jin already raging before you got to the kitchen, Jungkook pestering you to talk to Joon.

They’ve all been talking about it. They all know. Strings really being pulled behind the scene.

Rage fills your mind.

“Get your car, now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ending scene and the first scene of chapter 8 are the first scenes I wrote for this story. We will see how it plays out!  
> Outro: all my friends (WRENN)


	8. Real Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The season finale: confessions and resolutions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in the last chapter, this chapter is the very first part I wrote almost a year ago :o. I had to edit it for what happened in the story, but I hope you all enjoy where this headed.  
> HEY THERE IS SMUT IN THIS CHAPTER. If you wanna skip my tragic smut writing, stop reading at the "###" and ctrl+F to get to the next set of "###" which mark the end.
> 
> Intro: Real Friends (Camila Cabello & Swae Lee)

Ji Eun peeps at you from the driver’s side. “So, I know there are probably several reasons you are mad right now.”

You laugh to the passing scenery, fingers drumming on the windowsill.

“But I just want to… you know… make sure… me making a move on you isn’t one of them?”

You fold your hands in your lap, gripping your fingers tight. “I don’t know, Ji Eun,” your voice is barely level. “Why don’t you ask your little MI6 chat?”

Ji Eun clears her throat and continues to speed through the stop signs heading to your apartment.

Your phone vibrates. You have half the nerve to ignore it. Yanking it from your pocket, you glare at Hope’s name on the screen.

“What?” you snap.

“What?” Hope says back in surprise. “Why do you sound mad that I’m calling?”

“I don’t know,” you sneer, “Why do you think I’d be mad?” Ji Eun looks over but jerks back to the front view when you urge her to say something.

“Did someone already tell you about Jungkook?” Your heart stutters, but your temper wins over.

“No, what? Who’d he make out with tonight?” You laugh.

“Uh, the cement,” Hope deadpans into the phone. “We are on our way to the hospital. It’s bad…” there’s muffling and shouting in the back. “Okay, it’s not bad but it’s definitely bad for track.”

“Jin literally just got out of a cast and you’re telling me Jungkook’s in the hospital?” Ji Eun whispers next to you.

“Well, tell him he-” you pause, mind trying to break through the raging haze. “Who else is with you?”

“Yoongi and Joon but I think we’ve called everyone.” There’s more muffling on the other line.

You kick your feet onto Ji Eun’s dashboard. “That’s perfect.”

“Um, I do not think this is perfect?” Hope asks. “I think everyone will be at the hospital. I kind of panicked with all the blood. But it was jus-”

“I needed to speak with you all anyway.” You hang up before he can continue. You tuck your arms around yourself. “Drive to the hospital.”

“You haven’t even fought anyone yet,” Ji Eun murmurs.

“They are all already heading there,” you grit. “It’ll make the clean up easier.”

You burst into the waiting room of the small urgent care off-campus. The rush of cold air does nothing to cool your anger. Barging passed the check-in desk, you find everyone except Jungkook in the waiting room. They sit in the fading green chairs, like a congregation ready for the sermon.

Good enough.

“You,” you jab a finger at Ji Eun who flinches back. “Join them.” She obediently sits, tucking her skirt underneath her, and pays attention.

“Okay, mother fuckers,” you practically shout. A woman startles, looking between you and her small child. “Listen up, because I have some shit to say.” 

Jin’s eyes are wide and Hope’s jaw drops. Yoongi just seems to shrug farther into his seat.

“Anyone want to explain this to me?” You grab Ji Eun’s phone and wave it in front of the group. Jin’s face turns bright red. Taehyung whistles. The mother shields her child’s eyes.

Not the reaction you expected. You swing the phone around. The time shows on the lock screen, just above an incredibly promiscuous photo of In Na. “Seriously?” you spit at Ji Eun, who quickly unlocks the phone and hands it back, staring at her lap.

Now, you have the reaction you wanted. Color drains from Jin and Joon, Taehyung’s mouth snaps shut. Yoongi looks over his shoulder, debating the best exit route.

“All of you hinting at shit and never telling me anything.” You start to pace back and forth. “So instead you’re all giving me these proverbs and talking behind my back in some stupid chat message?” Yoongi and Hope both turn to Ji Eun who coughs into her hand. 

“Hey, you ignored this just as much as they avoided it,” Yoongi interjects, throwing an arm around Hope who cowers when you stomp towards him.

“You guys have this damn chat message without me then talk to me like I’m supposed to know what’s going on in it,” you practically shriek. You whirl on Jin. “And you!” It’s so abrasive that he stands when his name is called, unsure what to do. “You’re just as much a coward! How was I supposed to figure this out? How am I supposed to know things aren’t fine if you  _ literally _ say nothing. Not even it’s fine. Instead, you corner me against a fridge.”

Jin opens his mouth but you spin to Joon, Jimin, and Taehyung. Taehyung’s clinging to Jimin, the only person who seems calm. “I’m not some fucking sex toy!” The mother in the back covers her child’s ears. “Throwing me at Kook or acting like this is some kind of fight over me. I’m here, too!” Jimin tries to close Tae’s jaw which is stretching towards the floor. Joon’s staring at the floor.

Silence from the peanut gallery. Guess you’ll keep going.

You pace again, throwing your hands up in exasperation. “Sure, sure, I’m ignoring all of this. But how am I even supposed to handle it when you are all plotting behind me and no one is even saying anything?” The nurse behind the desk tries to call a gentle  _ ma’am _ . You brush her off.

“And you!” You look at Jimin, he sets his jaw. “You are always an asshole to me! Why the fuck is that?”

Jimin is not as shocked as everyone else. “Because  _ you _ are an asshole!” He rises,  balling his fists. “You’re as dense as a fucking brick. You are telling me you can’t tell that this hot piece of ass-” he waves to Joon, who tucks in on himself “-and this broad-shouldered idiot-” he waves to Jin whose eyes bulge out of his skull “-are fucking fighting over you?” Jimin laughs, placing his hands on his hips. “Please, you are just running from the inevitable.”

“Well I’m here now!” You practically shout. Taehyung whistles but immediately winces when Hope kicks him.

Jin and Joon goggle at you.

Your cheeks warm despite the cold, sterile air. Taking a deep breath, you survey them all. “I’ll get my shit together, but you all sure as hell better, too, before the next time we get a beer or I’m going to crack the bottle over someone’s skull,” you growl. 

Jin and Joon’s mouths bob like fishes. Taehyung rubs his skull, knowing full well he may be the target of a broken bottle.

“Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go check on the one kid with balls in here,” you finish, hands in the air, marching down the hall. The mother covering her child’s ears clutches her neckline.

The click of Ji Eun’s heels follows you.

Still in a fury, you rip open the curtain to Jungkook’s room. Or at least, you make a good guess.

“This is a sanctuary zone!” Jungkook shouts, hands over his face as soon as you rip the curtain back.

But all your anger dissipates when you see him, leg elevated, face purple, laughing in his bed.

“Holy shit,” Jungkook’s grabbing at his ribs, mouth twisted in pain while he laughs. “You sounded hilarious.”

“What did you do?” you wail, leaning across his bed and unsure whether to hug him or check him over. “What did you  _ do? _ Jungkook!” You reach to smack him but have no idea where is safe.

He finally gets ahold of himself. “I missed the bottom three steps.” His smile is at least a little sheepish. “Broken ankle. Busted lip. Bruised cheek. But it’s not too bad.”

“Track!” Is all you can manage to shout. You almost feel nauseous from the sudden rush between rage and concern.

“Track season is almost over for the summer, Noona,” Jungkook shrugs. “It’ll heal fine, I’m young and youthful,” he goes to give you a gun show but winces. You whine, patting at his arms.

“Thank god you’re okay,” you sigh. Jungkook nods. You stare at his form, now not sure what to do with yourself. “Actually…. Thanks. For breaking yourself.”

Jungkook cocks his head. He looks ridiculous like someone smudged purple eye shadow all over his face. “Um. Okay.”

“No,” you shake your head. “That,” you jab a thumb over your shoulder with a deep sigh. “That needed to happen.” Jungkook doesn’t say anything, just nods. “Shit’s been so tense.” You fiddle with one of his fingers on the sheets. “I know it’s partly my fault, but not totally.” The anger still edges forward like a low tide inside of you. “You all lied to me. At least you tried to hint at something a few times.”

“I have my loyalties in both places, it was tough,” Jungkook agrees, flipping his hair from his face.

You fiddle with his fingers some more, neither of you saying anything for a while.

Jungkook twists his forefinger around yours. He holds your hand over his stomach in both of his. “But you aren’t being honest either,” Jungkook finally says. “With yourself or us,” Jungkook specifies.

You wrinkle your nose. “Ew, when did you get so mature?”

“All the sex,” he states. “I know women now.” You burst out laughing and hear Ji Eun laugh behind you, too. “Why don’t you let Ji Eun and I catch up while you talk outside?”

You turn back and regard the two. Last semester, this would have never been a suggestion. You would have remained, some kind of apparition of confidence for Jungkook. Now, he suggested hanging with her, with no other motives. He’d changed.

Lots had changed. Lots had changed slowly.

“I want you to know you and Ji Eun are the only two allowed in this sanctuary zone since you are the only two who didn’t blatantly hide this from me,” you pout.

“I appreciate that,” Ji Eun sniffs, holding her head high.

“Guess you’ll need to go outside to talk with him, then,” Jungkook nods over your shoulder. Namjoon peaks around the door, face serious. You turn back to Jungkook, terrified of the racing in your chest. Jungkook just shrugs.

“Goddammit, you can’t be this cool now,” you grumble, nodding to Ji Eun as you walk out of the room. As you turn to close the curtain, she takes a seat on the edge of Jungkook’s bed. What a strange scene. Something about it gives you hope.

The hallway is empty besides you and Namjoon. He stuffs his hands in his sweatpants, cardigan loose on his frame. His bangs are down today, always making him look a bit softer, vulnerable. It manages to catch your attention long enough to take a deep breath.

You shake your head, trying to knock the rage out of your ears enough to be focused  _ and _ angry. “I’m only going to say this once. I need to apologize to you.”

“It’s fine, it was a-”

“It wasn’t consensual,” you rush. “Sure, in the moment, it felt right. It definitely felt right.”

Namjoon blinks at you. Context, you need to give context.  “The night we… you know…” It dawns on Namjoon. “We were taking advantage of the moment, we were drunk, but that’s the problem…” taking advantage of the fact we think we know each other well enough, you add to yourself.

“Look, it’s fine,” Namjoon huffs, fingers looking to grab onto something other than you.

“We didn’t discuss it,” you continue. You look at your feet. Still a few inches apart. Still some space to think.

There’s a pause.

He arches down, glancing up into your downcast view. “And what’s there to discuss?” He curls his lips in, thinking, eyebrows raised as he tilts his head. “What do you want to hear me say?” 

For once, you are lost for words. Everything you’d avoided rushed in over the last few hours, and you are still rushing to catch up with your mind.

“What you want,” you whisper. Namjoon drops his head, but not before you see a shy widening of his eyes.

“Don’t make me do all the hard work,” he gives a dry laugh. Peering up, your mouth is inches from his, noses almost touching. It catches you off guard. You tip back, and he steadies your back. Always steadying you. The touch terrifies you, reminding you of that night, and how your heart raced. 

“Look,” he starts with a sigh heavier than your own. His hands are firm, spread on your lower back, eyes boring into yours. “We’re here now. They all know. Let’s just give it a shot.”

“I don’t know if I want this,” you whisper. Namjoon’s expression drops, you even feel his hand loosen on your back. “I really…”

You take a big step back. “No, I need time to stop wanting to fucking strangle you before I even consider this.”

“I can work with that,” his voice is so, so small. “That’s okay. Thanks for telling me.”

He gives another smile, all cheeks. “See, not so bad?” But he’s already turning on his heel. Walking away.

You clutch the back of his cardigan. He pauses, looking over his shoulder at you. Eyebrows raised high into his hair.

“Oh my god,” you startle, ripping your hand back, staring at it in betrayal. “Oh my god, that was so corny, sorry.”

Namjoon turns again, leaning onto the hall wall, hands back in his pockets. “Um… you want to strangle me right now?”

“I…” you take a deep breath. So many breaths. You realize it’s because your heart’s beating too hard to breathe. “I don’t know if I want this.”

A slight twitch of irritation flashes across Namjoon’s face, “Yeah, you already told me.”

“But!” You almost shout, already worked up from the earlier shouting. “But…” you swallow. Why is it so goddamn hard to talk? You rub your toe into the ground, examining the aged laces of your shoes. Namjoon’s feet come back into view, just in front of yours.

“But?”

“I… might be... willing to try,” you almost whisper. You swallow hard again. Now, you are more embarrassed than anything at yourself, how weak you seem.

“Hey.” You watch his feet shift. “Hey, New Girl,” Namjoon tries again. His brown eyes, dark like Jungkook’s, alight with something you’d never seen in Jungkook’s eyes. But you know this look in Joon’s. You like this look.

“Let’s try,” he says. He smiles big, teeth flashing, dimples poking in. “It’ll be okay.”

You chew on your lip, shoving your hands into your pockets. 

Namjoon nods, and there’s a beat in between you both. Not sure what to do. His hand reaches out to you again, but he drops it, rolling back on his feet. So he nods again, then spins, bouncing back down the hall.

“You gonna murder me, too?” Jin says from behind you. You grab onto the wall, almost falling to the floor in fright.

“Jesus,” you heave.

“Close, but not quite,” Jin chuckles.

“Do I really have to do all this right now?” You whine. Jin stands at the opposite end of the hall. “Is this some poetic shit you both planned out?”

“Actually,” Jin muses, rubbing his chin. “Most of it, no. Definitely making a chat to complain about you and avoid each other, yes.” You choke at his forwardness. “But I went to the bathroom and happened to hear Joon making his move.” You feel hot just having Jin mention it again.

“Jin,” you start, not sure what you even want to say.

“It’s okay, I can do the talking,” he says, smile light. He takes another step or two forward, admiring the stale art designs on the walls. “I just want to know, if I’d kissed you, would you be saying yes to me?”

“God, did he go into detail by detail, too?” You fire back. Jin just gives a knowing look, walking until he’s standing next to you. He looks so confident from up above, your head tilted to hold his gaze. Plush lips in a tight line, eyebrows set.

“No, I don’t things would have changed.”

“What if I’d been in this hall,” Jin asks, voice low. He brings his hand up to hold you the way Joon had when you stumbled. “And had asked you to give it a go first?”

You’re unstable so close, bringing a hand to rest on Jin’s chest so you don’t fall forward. His scent fills your mind, soft like his touch. You take another deep breath, but realize it isn’t too steady your mind. 

It’s to prepare yourself for what you need to say.

Moreso than anything that happened with Namjoon, this conversation is scarier. Because something in you knows, knows that this is the harder conversation, more likely to rip things apart now rather than later. Years of television had taught you this never ends well for Jin’s character.

“Jin,” you start, doing your best to give him a straight face. “I am still so fucking mad at you, so I want you to understand what this means that I am even gracing you with a real conversation right now.”

Jin cocks an eyebrow, puckering his lips in disapproval.

“Are you going to big brother me now?” You deflect.

“Well, I don’t think I’mma be boyfriending you, if that’s what you mean.”

You grimace. “Okay. I know I’ve done some things wrong, too, okay?” He nods, face smoothing out again. “You... are comfort. You make our place feel like a home. I love eating dinner with you. Complaining with you. Even making terribly bad jokes.” It’s too hard to keep looking him in the eyes. It’s all there. The opposite of the spark in Joon’s. The way his face remains unchanging, but the slight glossing you see over his irises makes it hard to continue.

“But, it’s not the same.” You think of your heart, now a hard thump instead of an erratic race. “I don’t think the timing would have changed it. And if it had, it would have ended the same.”

Jin contemplates your rejection, ears burning red despite his stoic features. The sadness melts into the corner of his eyes, and you attempt to keep the fear at bay.

“I can’t lie, it hurts,” Jin says, hand balling in the back of your shirt. But he takes a step back. “But I’m glad I know,” he steps back again, putting the width of Jungkook’s curtain between you both. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

He gives you a thumbs up. “I’m glad we could be, after both being scared to move anything, there was nothing to move anyway.”

“Jin,” you whisper. “There’s not nothing.”

“No,” he hums. “But you know what I mean. It’ll take a bit, but it will be okay.” He shakes the thumbs up again, then lowers his hands. You smile, still scared. Scared what happens after you both reassure each other, once you step away from this scene. Will it be the same? Can you eventually be how you were before, with what’s in the air taking full form? Like Ji Eun now eavesdropping from Jungkook’s bed? Will you both walk away and realize without this, without everyone, you can’t be anything?

“I’mma go call Jungkook’s brother,” Jin breaks the haze of questions you’d been asking each other. You nod. You watch his back down the hall, hoping you’ll see those shoulders sitting taller soon.

You heave a final sigh and pull the curtain to Jungkook’s room. Ji Eun and Jungkook sit on the bed, both caught watching.

“That was… not so bad…” Ji Eun says.

“Yeah, actually,” Jungkook reassures.

You groan and collapse into the chair, covering your face.

* * *

Taehyung, the poor boy, is the first to see you. He probably wouldn’t have come to class if it wasn’t the final exam day, where papers are due in-person. The terror from that night in the hospital actually leaves you with a kind of satisfaction. He should have had some ounce of fear or respect for the fact that you are, now were, his teacher.

And now that he’s finally not your student, he can be your friend.

Except no one is hanging out.

No one is talking.

Unless they are all talking about how they are not talking in the god forsaken groupchat, which Ji Eun  _ swears  _ they deleted.

After leaving the hospital, you were still mad. Regardless of your density, it’s hard to ignore everyone talking behind your back. A whole secret group message level talking behind your back. You guess everyone is waiting for you to reach out, further demonstrating they know you are the victim here.

But you are loaded down with exams, and there isn’t much time to text anyone when you are finishing up term papers. Exam week is insane with projects, papers, and tests. 

You’re still nervous. Jungkook let you know everyone else is too busy. He’s the only one who feels confident messaging you, claiming he has eternal sanctuary status. You hadn’t spoken to Joon. Jin and you traded good mornings maybe twice. Both waterlogged by finals, you only made passing grunts or awkward smiles in the hall. It’s awkward. On the other hand, Yoongi felt completely guilt-free and made small talk in between naps and sex.

So you are surprised when Jimin turns up at your door the following Friday.

“Um,” you say, looking him over as he stands, hands on hips, in the hallway of your apartment complex.

“Believe me, I never expected to be here, either,” he runs a hand through his hair. Jimin goes right passed you, falling onto your couch and waving for you to join him. You sit, wondering why you are taking commands from him in your own house.

You both sit there, staring at each other for a bit. Jimin crosses his legs, looking around the room. You wonder if he’s actually waiting on Jin or Yoongi.

“Jungkook and Tae thought it was best if I handled this,” Jimin finally explains.

“Oh, did you discuss that in a groupchat?” You inquire. Jimin flashes a big, fake smile.

“Oh shut up. Like you and Ji Eun and Ji Woo don’t have a side chat, too,” he shoos away the thought.

“It’s different.”

“Only because someone got hurt,” Jimin argues.

You pause. You’re not sure what to say to that.

“Do you know why I don’t like you?” Jimin leans back on the sofa, hands clasped over his knee.

You blink. “Because you like Joon.”

“Exactly. Now, with your graduate brain, do you think I would just hate every woman who was near Joon?”

You stay silent.

“Some part of you already knew,” Jimin taps his head. “Hence you are a dense ass brick or just a dumb ass bitch.”

You huff. “I assume you’ve been sent as the messenger,” you redirect. “I didn’t appreciate it. All the sneaking, talking, and conniving behind my back.”

Jimin cocks an eyebrow. “First, I’m not a messenger. Second, let me ask u something else.”

“I think you’ll ask whether I allow you or not,” you grumble.

“Very good,” Jimin nods. “You told Jin-” you’re reminded that they talked about everything, even your fight, in that chat- “that you wanted everyone to stay together, right?”

You give a curt nod, crossing your arms.

“That chat was their dumb way of keeping the group together. They knew if something happened or a fight, you would be weird and it would keep getting weird and everyone would split up. Boys are dumb, they made it a competition. Of course, they gloated some in the chat. But they also tried to hold things together while you continued to ignore everything.”

Jimin runs his hand through his hair, seemingly frustrated he has to lay this out. “So, cut them some slack. You’ve almost got a masters, so I refuse to believe you are really so dumb as to not see what was happening. If you had just said you didn’t like either of them, it woulda ended.”

You open your mouth, but Jimin holds his hand up.

“But you didn’t say you didn’t like either of them. So I know, and they knew, you liked one of them. Having to choose made it harder than having to say no to both, so you said no to yourself.”

“Okay…,” you trail off. “Not to be weird, but you’ve been a straight ass to me so all this sage shit is just strange.”

Jimin huffs. “Are you not listening? I’ve been an ass to you because of this dumb bitch juice you’ve been drinking. I’m here to cut off your supply.” He stands, and waves a hand in front of your face like casting a spell. “Begone, dumb bitch, and let’s move on with this.” He strides back out of the apartment. You hear the door click shut.

“Um, well... thanks... I think?” You say to no one. 

“He’s a really loyal friend, but man is he trash if you fuck with his friends,” Yoongi hollers from his room.

* * *

Jimin, no matter how rude, is right. You know he’s right. After taking out all his dumb bitch mentionings.

Namjoon’s expression at the hospital flashes through your mind. Soft and inviting, head cocked to the side to ask you to try with him.

A thonk sounds when your head hits the table, embarrassed at how you’d grabbed his cardigan like some high school drama.

You sit at the kitchen table, staring at your phone. Last week, you did the same thing.

But now you have a whole new reason. 

You open Joon’s chatlog and put the phone back down, staring at it. Exams are over. You have no more excuses. You all will be having an end of year party soon, anyway. You have to get this over with.

Or you have to start this.

Before the end of year party. And that’s not only your deadline, Jungkook told you as well. The party is at Namjoon’s parents’ house.

The phone buzzes and you snatch it up as though it may run away with whatever notification you have.

_ Namjoon _

_ Hey _

_ You _

_ Hi _

Your head thonks on the table again. You answered way too fast.

_ Namjoon _

_ So for the sake of being honest _

_ Yoongi told me ur staring at ur phone _

_ And its probably bcuz of me _

_ Honored _

“FUCK OFF,” you shout, almost launching the phone in the direction of Yoongi’s room. You hear his cackle. When the fuck did he even come out here?

_ You _

_ Can i comover _

_ Namjoon _

_ U text like shit for an English major _

You snort. At least this feels the same.

_ You _

_ Thatsa yes _

_ Namjoon _

_ 20 minutes _

The stairs up to the boys’ apartment usually don’t leave you  _ this  _ out of breath. But standing in front of the door, there’s a thumping in your ears. Your heel bounces. You take a deep breath.

The door swings open before you can knock. Namjoon wears a loose black tank top and shorts.

“Is that on purpose?” You ask, pouring over the golden skin on display. He just looks on, unsure of what you mean.

“Come on in,” he stands to the side. You pass through and for a second think you are on the wrong floor.

“What… happened here?” You glance around the place. The furniture is straight. Videogames in neat stacks. The blanket actually folded on the couch. The kitchen sink still has dirty dishes, but they are stacked neatly.

“I, uh,” Namjoon rubs the back of his neck. “I kinda asked the guys to help clean and leave.”

“What a kind gesture,” you giggle, hoping it covers up your heart jumping to your throat when you realize there are no loud, shouting buffers in the house to distract you two.

You both stand in the living room.

Both your hands in your pockets.

Both staring at each other.

“Can I… sit down?” You cringe at your own question. What is this, an interview?

“Totally, one hundred percent. Anywhere,” Namjoon sits then stands. “Like anywhere you want.”

You sit down on the sofa, on the far end. Namjoon sits on the other far end. You both stare ahead instead of each other.

“Penisbutter,” it falls out of your mouth before you can stop it.

“NO,” Namjoon shouts, coughs, then shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, what?”

You point straight ahead, to the whiteboard for chores above the TV. A well-drawn penis pops out of a jar labeled JIF. In graffiti letters, “PENISBUTTER” is written over the top.

Namjoon almost whimpers. “So close, so close to everything being perfect.” He wipes a hand down his face.

“Awh honey,” you turn, propping your arm on the back of the sofa and batting your lashes. “Did you get pretty for me?”

“Of course, darling,” Namjoon fakes a southern drawl, also propping his arm on the sofa. Your fingers touch. You aren’t sure if your heart actually comes out of your throat. He brushes his fingers over yours, and you curl yours around his. His hand is a little clammy, and his own nervousness calms you.

You can’t help but giggle. This is the home you are used to. You keep giggling, admiring the detail of the drawing. Namjoon starts to laugh some, too. In the end, you are both giggling on the couch.

You scoot a bit closer. “We are being really weird.”

Namjoon scoots a bit closer, too. “I’m not sure how to act.”

You shrug. Namjoon pushes a bit more. “You kinda left me in a weird situation. Where I kinda asked you if you wanted to give this a go… and you stared at me.”

“Oh yeah,” you look down at your lap. Your hands are locked together. 

You finally glance over. He’s staring down at your hands, his thumb drawing tiny circles on your skin.

“Yeah,” you whisper, voice caught somewhere.

“This is great,” Namjoon says, meeting your gaze. Blood rushes in your ears.

“It definitely is,” you sound like an idiot. Luckily, you both sound like idiots.

“You want to go on a date?” Namjoon rolls his lips in as soon as he says it, eyebrows creasing in concern.

You look at your hands again. It’s nice. They look nice together. Is that a thing? Have you ever thought that about hands before?

“Yeah,” you give a small nod, smiling. Namjoon draws in a deep breath when you smile at him. Actually, you’ve seen him do this before when you smile.

Maybe you are dense as a brick.

“Okay, let’s go,” he stands and you have to follow due to the locked hands.

“Wait, right now? “You cleaned up to just leave?”

Namjoon whirls quickly. But when he sees you honestly surveying the space, he looks confused again.

“What?” you ask. He steps closer. You step back, a little nervous. But you can only step so far. He steps again, your thighs hit the arm of a sofa chair, so you sit down on the edge. Namjoon comes between your legs.

Oh shit. You keep pulling his hand closer each time you step back. You’re pulling him there. In between your legs. Absently staring at his lips the whole time, waiting for them to form words.

“So I was thinking,” Namjoon ponders, craning down to you. He’s breathing harder, you can feel it ghost across your face. The smell of him stronger, not mixed in with the other boys of the apartment.

“Yeah?” You hold his hand in both of yours. The back of his hand is soft against your thumb.

“You know, we are already pretty great friends,” he glances down.

“Definitely,” you swallow hard.

“And, like, there's clearly something…” he licks his lips. “Here.”

“I agree,” you follow the motion of his tongue.

“So, like,” now you can hear him swallow. Oh god, could he hear you swallow?

“Uh-huh,” you are still staring at his lips.

“Why be awkward about it?” Namjoon shrugs, swinging your joined hands in between you two. It knocks the inside of your thighs. His forehead bumps into yours. So close.

“Totally,” you manage. “Why not just like, jump in with the rest?” 

“Kinda because you said not to?” His voice cracks a bit on the last word. 

Fuck. Your heart is pounding too hard to think of much else besides how good Namjoon’s eyes look staring up at him. “I did, didn’t I.”

“Mhm,” Namjoon nods slowly. The motion teases his lips closer to your own with each nod. His Adam’s apple stretches with the motion. It’s too much.

“Fuck me.”

Namjoon laughs dryly.

“No,” you stare into his eyes. “Fuck me.”

“Fuck,” Namjoon huffs out. Before you can remind him, yes, that’s what I just said, he’s let go of your hand and wrapped his fingers through your hair, pulling your face close to his. It takes you off guard, the intensity. His lips smooth against your own, tongue stroking yours. It’s right where you left off over a month ago. Your arms are around his neck, pulling him in, but the angle makes it impossible to get close enough.

You jump off the armrest, teeth knocking together. You both grunt out apologies as you press your body against Namjoon’s, his arms now ensnaring your waist. His hands run up under your shirt, eager to pull it off.

“Shit, wait,” you barely breathe. You are completely out of breath. Namjoon immediately unlatches, taking a step back.

“You’re right, you’re right,” he splutters out, wiping his mouth. “Waiting might be good, maybe we should talk more first or-”

“No, dumbass,” you exasperate, “I mean we are not fucking in the living room. If anyone walks in…”

“Oh thank god,” Namjoon almost cries. Raising an eyebrow, you saunter back towards his bedroom. But as soon as your back is turned, Namjoon wraps his arms around your waist, picking you up off the ground, marching to his room.

You squeal, feet kicking out as he mouths at your neck.

“I swear to god if Jungkook is in my bed…” he growls.

#############################

You’re laughing when Namjoon throws you down onto the bed. He hops on after you, grabbing your waist and helping you shimmy up the bed. He snakes an arm behind your back, pulling you up. Your hands quickly discard his tanktop, the limp piece of fabric doing you no good now.

“Goddamn look at all this,” you moan, mouthing at his collar bones while he runs his hands up your stomach, over your ribs.

“You aren’t really looking,” Namjoon sasses. You roll him over, grabbing at the bottoms of your own shirt and pulling it over your head. Namjoon’s grabs at you, trying to map your body through his fingertips. You sit back on his lap, but there’s something more pressing than his growing erection when Namjoon’s fingers run over your bra straps.

“Come on baby,” you sweet talk. “Aren’t you a master with my bra?”

Namjoon’s hands still. With no shirt on, you watch the red crawl from his collarbones up to his cheeks. “I’m going to address what was just said  _ after _ this is over.”

Namjoon snaps his fingers behind your back. To your surprise, your bra falls right off. The cool air of his room hits your nipples, already hard. Your jaw drops in surprise, and he only smirks up at you.

You’re reminded of your current situation. Straddling one of your best friend’s laps, both shirtless, both about to be way more than shirtless.

You glide nervous fingers over Namjoon’s skin. His strong pecks, soft tummy, and caramel skin. You trace the rim of his boxer briefs.

“You’re thinking,” he says. You glance up, feeling a bit shy. But Namjoon doesn’t have shyness in his expression. His gaze makes you only more vulnerable. Adoration, awe.

“I’m always thinking,” you deflect. Namjoon rolls his eyes. “It’s weird.”

“Bad weird?”

“Good weird.”

“Wanna get weirder?”

“That sounds bad weird.”

Namjoon shrugs, and your tensions subside. “We’ll talk about kinks later.”

You giggle again. There’s so much more laughing than you ever expected. Namjoon pushes off the bed, coming up to meet you, gently taking your bottom lip between his own. It’s soft. He does it again. You press back, slowly deepening the kiss. You both breathe in deep, tongues tapping. His chest press against your own, skin soft against your breasts. He hums low, and the sound is soothing.

You trace up his sides, rounding his shoulders and running your fingers over his undercut. His hips buck lightly when you grip his neck. His tongue licks behind your teeth, you grind your hips down.

“Oh my god,” Joons starts, but you swallow down his moan and roll your hips again in rhythm with the twists of your tongues.

He breaks the kiss. “This is happening.”

You start grinding harder, spurred on by the rock you can feel under your ass. Namjoon pulls back, nuzzling into your neck. “It’s really happening.”

You pull back, grabbing Joon’s jaw. “Joon?”

“Huh?” He looks silly, cheeks squished topped off with hooded eyes.

“Shut up the fuck up,” you order.

His eyes darken. “Say that again.”

You bite back a giggle. “Fuck,” you whine. Joon’s eyes roll back. “Fuck me,” you whine, rolling your hips again.

Namjoon starts nipping lightly, sending goosebumps across your arms.

“Shit,” you moan. Namjoon grunts in response, sucking hard at the base of your neck. Your breath stutters.

“Come on now,” Namjoon teases, popping off your neck. “Yoongi and Hope are at a disgustingly louder level than we are.”

“I’m so glad you are bringing all of our friends into the bedroom,” you yank his hair. Namjoon doesn’t retort, his eyes just roll back a bit. You pull again, and he groans.

His arms, supporting him from behind, wrap around you. He rolls, plopping you down on the bed with a victorious grin. “Just a lil motivation to not keep quiet,” he teases. 

He grabs your thigh, hiking it up around his waist as he settles between your legs. He rolls once, twice. The sudden friction makes you gasp.

With all the kissing and new touching, you hadn’t realized how wet you’d gotten. Now your underwear was uncomfortable. You’re itching to get naked.

Namjoon nuzzles at your neck, humming each time you moan. You pull on his hair again, excited by the nip you get in return.

You snap the elastic of his boxers. Namjoon’s hips stutter, already excited by the suggestion. He starts moving down your body, kissing down your chest, your stomach.

“Hey,” you prop up on your elbows. Namjoon looks up from your waistline where he mouths at your hip bones.

He cocks an eyebrow. “Um, yes?” You chew on your lip. “Oh my god, don’t do that,” his head falls onto your stomach.

“Are you forgetting something?”

Namjoon studies your expression for a second. “I have condoms.”

“I’m talking about my tits!” you wave at your exposed breasts. A slight pink sits on Namjoon’s cheeks.

“Oh, well, you never, like, gave me a signal to touch them,” Namjoon starts, crawling back up your body.

“This is your-” before you can finish, Namjoon grips one of your breasts, hard. He sucks on your neck again, rolling your nipple between his finger as you moan. He moves back down, circling the other with his tongue before sucking again. You writhe under him, his name falling from your lips as you gasp for air.

He jumps up to his knees, crouching over your body as his hand and mouth trade places. His teeth lightly graze the nub and you groan, rolling your hips into nothing. That is, until you feel the back of Namjoon’s hand skirt down your stomach and fidgeting with the buttons of your shorts.

Two fingers slide under your panties, the slick making it easy for his fingers to slide. Namjoon groans against your skin. “Fuck,” he whines, your hips meeting the rhythm of his hand.

But it’s gone as soon as he started. You whine, looking up to protest, but he scoots down, yanking your shorts off your legs. The swiftness makes you squeal, kicking them off as Namjoon spreads your legs. It tingles wherever his hands grip, pulling your knees up and spreading you wide.

He looks up at you as he lowers down, then seems to lose his cool. Dimples puncture his cheeks as he focuses on his target, licking his lips just before he touches down. His tongue swipes one long stroke from the top to bottom and you realize you’ve been holding your breath.

He works slow, tongue running up and down before swirling around your clit, lightly sucking and repeating the motion.

“Fuck me,” your head is thrown back. You roll into Namjoon’s mouth, grabbing at the sheets.

“Give me a minute,” Namjoon jokes. His words vibrate against your clit and you whine louder.

“Fuck me,” you whine, Namjoon’s tongue weaving across your sensitive bud. You clench around nothing.

“Goddamn, how can I say no?” Namjoon laughs dryly. He sits up on his knees, shoving his boxers and his shorts down.

You start to salivate. It’s been so long since you’ve seen a good dick. His pops out, hard, pink at the tip, bouncing. You watch, eyes following.

You reach out, taking it in your hand. The soft skin matches the soft moan of Namjoon as you run your palm up and down, admiring the girth and shape. It’s everything you want right now.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Namjoon grips the nape of your neck. You lean back, and he follows. He balances over you, shifting around. He grabs a condom from the bedside table, rolling it on easily.

Namjoon runs a firm hand down your chest, over your waist, the swell of your ass, and wraps his elbow underneath your knee. When he pulls your leg up, he kisses your knee, then your chest, then your lips. “You good?” he asks against your lips.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you nip at his bottom lip. Namjoon leans down onto his elbow, staying close to you. He grabs his shaft, guiding it to your entrance. He doesn’t take his eyes off your face, watching as you become flustered, nervous. When the tip first pushes in, your grab onto his shoulders. His eyes are blown as he watches the many emotions shift across your face. He looks gorgeous, feels amazing, it’s too much.

“Hold on,” you grit. Namjoon pauses, concern etched into his features. You shake your head. “I’m so worked up I thought I was gonna cum right then.”

Namjoon bursts out laughing. You smack his shoulder. “Damn, that’s amazing.”

You blush, kissing him again. “You’re amazing,” you don’t say it out loud, you mouth it against his lips.

Namjoon nuzzles into your neck again, before pulling back to keep watching you. He sinks the rest of the way in. You know you’re close already. It’s been so long. And it feels  _ amazing. _ You are so overwhelmed by Namjoon. His smell, his familiarity in such an unfamiliar situation. It’s so much as his arm wraps behind your shoulder, other holding your thigh high.

With each thrust, you whimper, moan and cry out. Namjoon spews swears, whimpering when you scratch at his scalp and pull his hair. Arching your back, he hits the perfect spot. It seers through your lower body.

“Harder,” you cry out, gripping onto Namjoon like he’s the only tie to reality. He picks up pace. “Harder,” you beg. “Fuck me hard.” You repeat it between gasps and moans as he pounds into you, breath coming fast. He moves to hold your waist up, keep you arched, pounding into your g-spot.

You reach down, fingers finding your swollen clit and rubbing exactly how you need it.

Namjoon watches how you take control of your orgasm. It only takes seconds before your body fills with electricity, body rolling as your orgasm surges through you. Namjoon grunts out, head bobbing as he looks between your blissed-out expression and your handiwork. Your walls clench around him and he doesn’t stop. Your orgasm pours over you like a wave, ripples with each thrust to your g-spot.

“You good?” Namjoon pants. You nod, hands curling in his hair again. You pull him back in, tongue on tongue immediately. His hips are erratic, the sensation still amazing as he starts to reach his end. He gets sloppy, breaths trading between your lips. He gives one final thrust, stilling, gasping out as he comes. You smile against his neck, rolling your hips to get him through it.

“Holy shit,” he sighs. His lips move against yours, not real target in mind.

He falls flat on top of you. The sudden weight makes you cough, causing both of you to giggle again.

##################################################

“That was…” he starts, muffled by the pillow behind your head.

“Okay,” you shrug.

Namjoon’s head shoots up so fast it causes you to cough again as he bares his weight on you.

“Okay? Just okay?” He begs for an explanation.

You laugh, wrapping your arms back around him and trying to kiss the disappointment off his face. “I’m joking, I’m joking.” He still looks disappointed. “Fucking amazing,” you whine in your sex voice. The creases of his worry start to disappear.

“That’s gonna be dangerous,” he shakes his head. He rolls off of you, rips off the condom, then flops back over. Like a koala hanging on a tree. Even in the afterglow, it’s cozy, both naked on his bed in the afternoon.

“I’m a dangerous woman,” you shrug, propping up on a pillow.

“Indeed,” Namjoon hums, kissing your cheek. He snuggles onto the pillow next to you. Neither of you are sleepy, but there’s no reason to get up yet. The sun traces he blinds over your legs, the room dark yet feeling warm.

“You were right,” you say after a few minutes, drawing patterns into his shoulder.

“I’m always right,” Namjoon muffles. “But what this time?”

“We’re already friends,” you muse. “This wasn’t too hard to jump into.”

“I sometimes felt like we were a married couple,” Namjoon says. “Such a married couple that we didn’t even have sex.”

“Okay, that’s a lil’ creepy, but kind of what I mean.” You look at the ceiling. “Everything was already there. Everything for a good relationship. I have that with a lot of you. It was just… just the person who I sparked with. And the fact that I had this great thing with everyone, but only  spark with you, it kind of scared me.”

“I really like this new you that actually talks about her feelings,” Namjoon smiles, eyes still hazy from the high.

“I’m doing my best,” you say. “It’s hard. Having a bunch of friends and wanting to make sure everything stays the same. Trying to figure out exactly why it felt different with you.”

“I knew that,” Namjoon sits up, gazing down at you. He traces the edge of your hip bone. “Jin and I both knew that. We didn’t know who you would choose, but something had to happen. Something was going to change.”

“Well,” you wave over the both of you. “Something changed.”

Namjoon beams, eyes disappearing with his smile. He gives you a light kiss, chaste and sweet. You still taste yourself on his mouth. You smile back, and he returns to be comfortably tangled in the sheets. You both stare at the ceiling.

“Is it really… this easy?” You ask after a while.

“Sex is a human instinct.”

You give Namjoon a side-eye. “I mean. This. Us. Is this really all it takes? Taking the leap, and now we are together? And the group goes on? Awkward nuts and bolts to be resolved?”

Namjoon takes a deep breath in, then a deep breath out. “Honestly, I think so. I think it’s this easy.”

“Kinda anti-climatic,” you grimace at the cracks in the ceiling.

“It took a while, but I like this conclusion.” You can hear the smile in Namjoon’s voice. You search the covers to find his hand again.

“Me, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's *technically* the end. Chapter 9 is actually an Epilogue about the end of year party. Let me know what you thought in the comments or on my Tumblr Joopiter Joon :)  
> This is the first multi-chapter piece of writing I ever finished. I'm so glad yet sad but ready to start my next project :D  
> Outro: Lights (BTS)


End file.
